Lunar: Scarlet Dawn
by Atelier Joh
Summary: One thousand years after the events of Eternal Blue, the next in line of the Ausa Clan decides to go out on her own journey to find the Four Dragons.
1. prologue

**Author's Notes: **Hello, and welcome to my Lunar fic! I've had the idea sitting around for a while, but thanks to my friend K'Arthur (who is a filthy enabler) I'm finally going through with it. I have a full outline already done, so hopefully it won't be a project that takes forever to complete. In any case, I am borrowing from K'Arthur's head-canon with certain traditions and such from Vane, including one "borrowed" character. If you love Lunar fics, definitely check out her fic "_Rise from the Ashes_"!

Okay, on with the show!

* * *

"Lady Lemiria, please, calm down!"

The current Guildmaster of Vane and current matriarch of the Ausa Dynasty, Majesty Miralda Ausa, simply smiled at the sight of her young daughter Lemiria running around in the garden as she passed by on her way to yet another meeting; as usual, the nanny was certainly having a difficult time keeping up with her. Chuckling, Miralda continued her steps and waved at Lemiria, who beamed back. The young Ausa child then ran to her best friend, Myriel, both causing trouble for their nanny.

"Majesty Miralda, the next item on the agenda today-" Escorting Miralda was Councilwoman Amber Lutice. Garnering a glance at the children playing, she couldn't have chosen a worst time to bring up anything; it was quite clear that Majesty Miralda Ausa had far more pressing matters of observing her daughter than to listen to whatever Amber had to say. Children were to be children, parents were to be parents. Amber made a mental note to make sure that the Ausa child would receive her lessons in Ausa mannerisms as soon as possible.

"Please, I'm certain that whatever it is, it will be the opening sentence of the meeting, and can wait until then." Miralda halted her steps for a moment to watch her daughter cheerfully, Lemiria splashing the water in the fountain at some imaginary enemy.

"It has to do with your daughter, Majesty." Amber's solemn tone almost seemed to echo in the hallway.

"Back to that again, are we?" Miralda's smile never faltered as she turned to a surprised Amber. _Certainly the current head of the Ausa clan couldn't be this guileless, could she?_ Amber frowned. Then again, as long as Amber's served on the council, she's never known herself to be pleasantly surprised at Miralda Ausa acting the way she expected. "When the time comes, I believe that young Lemiria will surprise all of you."

"Surprise, yes, but in what way...?" Amber muttered under her breath. "If she cannot hone her magic now, she'll be unable to adequately invoke the necessary spell arts for her ascension rites on her sixteenth birthday! Must I remind you that is less than six years?

Even those who struggle with magic require at least eight years of training to perform the necessary rituals!"

"Oh, my, is that a long time?" Miralda tilted her head as she put her hand to her face.

Amber's frustration shone slightly in her eyes.

"In any case, I see that your daughter has been entertaining my dear Lemiria with tales of the Dragonmasters of old, is she not?" Miralda returned her gaze back to her daughter and Myriel finally sitting down and behaving as they earnestly listened to their nanny.

Casting a gaze at her own daughter, the nanny, Amber nodded.

"The Ausa clan has always helped the Dragonmasters of old, and we are always in Althena's favor. Please, don't toss that aside so flippantly, Lady Lutice." Miralda smiled once again, as she continued her leisurely walk to their next meeting.

"I'm going to be a Dragonmaster when I grow up!" An enthusiastic cry could be heard from the garden, and that cry echoed throughout all of Vane.


	2. Chapter One

"Lady Lemiria, this is a grave concern."

"Like you haven't told me that a million times before." Lemiria's tone was definitely disrespectful as she crossed her arms. She definitely did not enjoy dealing with Councilwoman Riddel. Despite this display, she'd grown up into a regal woman whose rough exterior still couldn't hide her refined aura. Or, at least Miralda said so, and nobody dared to negate any of her statements. Lemiria turned her head away from the councilman who spoke.

"As it stands, next year is your twenty second birthday." Amber coughed, making her presence known. "It is then when you are expected to produce at least a single heir to the Ausa line. You already know that it is exceedingly rare for a Guildmaster to live beyond the age of forty, due to the ability to naturally wield two separate opposing forces."

"And why should I be held to that if one, I'm not the Guildmaster, and two, I have no magical ability whatsoever?" Lemiria sighed. She's heard this lecture several hundred, if not thousand, times. Did the Council really think she would change her mind? "The age restriction won't apply to me, given I don't have magic." Lemiria stated, with a smirk. "So the fact is, I'll probably live twice as long as that."

"Even so, you have no idea of the luxury you currently have as an Ausa clan heir, do you?" Glenn Tesla spoke, yet another council member. "In times of old, Guildmasters couldn't marry or have the option of having more than one child; if they refused to generate progeny beyond their twenty second birthday, the Council placed a hex on them, giving them no choice."

"I'm well aware of that disgusting ritual abandoned by Majesty Mia more than two thousand years ago." Lemiria stated. "It was your second lecture on the legacy of the Ausa Dynasty, Glenn, when I took your class."

"Even if we abandon the most occult of rituals, the fact is that unless there is an heir, Vane will lose its prosperity." Amber continued. "Your father passed shortly after your birth and your mother has refused to remarry, resulting in you being the only one to take on the title of Majesty and all that it entails. You do not want to bring dishonor upon your family name."

"Lemiria does not bring dishonor to the Ausa family name; I kindly beseech you as to refrain from such talk, Councilwoman Lutice." Miralda's kind smile cut through the tension with a knife, leaving many of the meeting attendants surprised.

"Um…" The fourth councilmember, Welkin, spoke up, "Even if we overlook the fact that you cannot wield magic, the image of Vane requires that you give them an inkling of hope before Majesty Miralda passes. It's not just about you; our benefactors also want to see something to show that their investments are not in vain." Councilmember Welkin was always the peace keeper, it seemed. Lemiria found it difficult to get mad at him regarding anything but his overly people-pleasing approach.

"Despite Vane accepting everybody regardless of magical ability, the head of Vane must still be a magic user. Our best option as of right now is for you to bear a child, and that child have the magical capabilities required to ascend to leadership." Amber agreed. "After all, _only_ the Ausa descendants are recognized by the Silver Spire, should it have to be used."

"Then what if my child isn't a magic user, either? Are you going to toss him or her out along with me?" Lemiria rubbed her temples. "As you know, my mother Majesty Miralda was the strongest wielder of the Ausa spell arts seen in the last thousand years when she was in her prime. Given that I don't have magic, what guarantee do we have on this?"

"We will deal with these things when we have done the necessary research." Amber commented. "But we must be willing to prepare for the worst ahead of time. The council has made this meeting to simply inform you of what will transpire on your birthday next year. That is all."

"Hold it!" Lemiria snapped at Amber, making Amber bite her lower lip. Amber obviously didn't take well to being yelled at. "If I agree to this, I want something in return."

"What would that be, Lady Lemiria?" Glenn lifted an eyebrow.

"I want to go on a journey between now and my next birthday, to find the Four Dragons." Lemiria's statement left the room agape.

For a seemingly eternity lasting only thirty seconds applause could be heard coming from Majesty Miralda Ausa.

"What a splendid idea!" Miralda smiled. "The Dragons are the Guardians of Althena, after all; if they choose to bestow upon Lemiria their blessing, she may be able to wield magic and lay claim to the throne! I presume that there is no problem here, then?"

"I..." Amber sat, flabbergasted.

"There hasn't been a Dragonmaster for the past two thousand years." Glenn crossed his arms. "However... I suppose it's not a completely ludicrous idea. It can't hurt to let the Lady Lemiria to get all of that energy out of her system before she settles down." A small grin surfaced on his expression.

The two remaining council members simply nodded. It was clear they were tired of arguing with Lemiria, and just wanted her out of Vane.

"It is settled, then." Miralda closed the session. "I wish you the best of luck, my daughter." Her smile was the only one in the room, aside from Glenn's smirk.

* * *

"Oh, my, so they agreed?" Myriel smiled. Lemiria was in her room, packing for her adventure as her friend sat and watched.. "That was quite gutsy of you; I wish I could have your straightforward and unyielding nature, Lemiria."

"You make me sound like I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth and always has to have my way." Lemiria chuckled.

"Oh, no, you know I'd never say that!" Myriel giggled.

"You know I've always wanted to go on this adventure, ever since I was a little girl." Lemiria stretched out her back, and sat down on her bed next to Myriel. "Our nanny telling us all kinds of amazing stories about the Dragonmasters of old... there were even twin Dragonmasters at one point! It must have been so fun, traveling the land, kicking evil ass, and making so many new friends! "

"I know!" Myriel exclaimed. "The stories of the Magic Emperor, the Vile Tribe, the Black Star, and Neo-Vane... it really makes these peaceful days something to be thankful for."

"Yeah... look, Myriel, I have a favor to ask of you." Lemiria's face turned solemn suddenly.

"I know." Myriel responded, still with her smile; she already knew what Lemiria was going to say. "Why did you think I haven't asked you to let me tag along, Lemiria?"

"... Thanks, Myriel." Lemiria gave a sigh of relief; of course her best friend would already know. "I see mother... I think everyone in Vane relies so much on sensing magic auras, they miss out on the tiny things, you know? Mother... she tries to hide it, but I see how her hands shake once in a while. She looks as hale as ever, but I can tell that the curse of the Ausa clan is taking its toll on her. Given how powerful she is, it's amazing she's even lived this long."

"You want to show her that you can become a competent leader of Vane before then, don't you?" Myriel stated. "You know, Auntie Mira doesn't care about any of that." Myriel, aside from Lemiria, was probably the only ones to dare to refer to the Guildmaster in such personal terms.

"Not only that, I want to show that pompous Council that just because I can't use magic, I'm not inferior. I mean, really? I know women in the past had children in their mid-teens, but we're in the present. Most women nowadays like to educate themselves and make a name for themselves before settling down, right?"

"Well, Vane _is_ steeped in archaic tradition..." Myriel tilted her head.

"I know you need to travel around sometimes with Glenn, being his apprentice and all, but when you can, please keep Mother company. You know because of her position how she doesn't have very many close friends." Lemiria sighed. Truth be told, she feared having the same fate; Myriel, of course, knew this and didn't touch on that subject. Lemiria was truly glad to have a friend such as Myriel.

"When you see the dragons, please tell them I send my greetings along with you." Myriel smiled.

Packing for a trip was a lot harder than Lemiria had imagined; she never went on a long-term trip before, so she wasn't entirely certain what to bring, and even then she wracked her brain on what would be easiest to carry. She didn't wish to use any of Vane's money to fund this selfish request; loads of silver were near impossible to transport, anyway. She wondered why nobody was thinking of an easier way to transfer money around.

* * *

"There it is!" A voice called out, causing Lemiria to turn her head to find a truly bizarre sight; three men chasing after... a blue cat? Cats weren't very common on Vane (despite the association of cats with witches), and even more odd that it was oddly colored (despite the fact that blue hair is apparently not an odd sight on humans). Lemiria wasn't entirely one for unfair odds; as the cat was cornered, she stepped between the cat and its pursuers.

"What the Hell is going on here?" Lemiria crossed her arms, her presence rather intimidating. Before her seemed like nothing but a bunch of thugs, but they halted and she could tell from the dread in their eyes and they knew exactly who and what she was. It was almost something she was going to miss when she went on her travels. "I'd advise that you leave this poor creature alone and pick on someone your own size."

"Lady Lemiria…!" One of the thugs uttered her name, and the other two stood down. One of the others whispered something to the first, and the first shook his head. "I don't care how much we get paid; we're not messing with her."

"At least you guys seem to talk like Vanetians." Lemiria smirked. It was surprising, really, that even thugs in Vane didn't sound like backwater hicks. "Now scram, and make sure I don't see you again." Doing as they were told, the three made themselves scarce, and Lemiria knelt down to make sure the cat was all right.

Purring, the cat seemed appreciative of what Lemiria had done for it. "So, you have a name tag…" Staring at it for a little bit, Lemiria tilted her head. "A bit stylized, but I guess it reads that your name is… Celsius, is it?" The cat purred once more, seeming to affirm Lemiria's statement. "That's a cute name for a cute cat." Lemiria chuckled. "Now, go find your owner and make sure you don't get into any more trouble, all right?" The cat seemed to give Lemiria a quizzical look.

"Well, I suppose I shouldn't automatically assume you have an owner anymore, do you?" Lemiria frowned. "For all I know, you could be some sort of super-rare pedigree of cat and those were thugs wanted to make some money off of you, hmm?" The cat purred once again. "… I'm talking to myself. Maybe I really am crazy." Lemiria didn't stop smiling, but let Celsius down and stood up. "I'm running a bit late, so I'll see you again, Mr. Celsius!" She waved goodbye to the cat, and went on her way.

"…" The cat simply stared at Lemiria's back, its tail flipping around smoothly.

* * *

"Do you think she's changed her mind?" A teenaged kid tapped his foot, obviously a bit impatient. "I certainly hope she wasn't facetious about the whole thing; if we're not going on this journey, I'm gonna be really pissed off!"

"Oh, please, everybody knows that the Lady Lemiria is a woman of her word; if she were a man, she'd be called noble!" Ebony hair peeked from a hood, and eyes closed from a smile opened to reveal red irises. "Besides, she's a celebrity; there's no way she could have gotten outside of the city without _somebody_ noticing her, wouldn't you say?"

"Maybe I should have set up tracking devices around Vane's perimeter…" The kid sighed, shrugging his shoulders.

"I'm certain that's unnecessary." A rather voluptuous beastwoman tittered. The low-cut top made it left little to the imagination. "Why not be just a tad patient? You can use the time to go over your lesson plans, can't you?"

"Oh, I'm much too busy to do lesson plans if I'm being considered for the Premier of the Magic Guild, right?" The hooded man chuckled.

"Augh, get it off of me!" A bandit screamed. One of the thugs from earlier was having its face torn apart by that blue cat Lemiria encountered! Finally ripping the cat off and throwing it in the air, the bandit noticed the crowd, and immediately began to try to run away; unfortunately, given the crowded nature of the gathering, he was quickly apprehended.

"… What the Hell is this?" Lemiria stepped into the town square, where she saw several people gathered. Rubbing her temples, she had an idea… however, her expression immediately softened when she realized that Celsius, now free from its captor, rubbed up against her leg. Picking it up, Lemiria looked around and awaited the answer she was dreading.

"Lady Lemiria, you're right on schedule." Glenn smiled. "The council took your request quite seriously, as you see, and we've found suitable companions to accompany you on your journey."

"… What." Lemiria raised an eyebrow.

"As you know, Lemiria, every Dragonmaster had a set of allies. Dragonmaster Dyne had his three companions resulting in the Four Heroes, and Dragonmaster Alex had four companions. Don't you think it's only obligatory that you have a few companions as well?" Miralda simply smiled. Lemiria couldn't outright object to what her own mother was saying, but…

"You've already met a few of them." Amber began, obviously not very amused by this entire show. "This is Leon Kaiser, brother of Noel Kaiser, one of your professors. As you know, Leon's one of our most skilled mages, specializing in earth and fire magic."

"It will be a pleasure to serve you, my beautiful Lady Lemiria!" The hooded man beamed. Lemiria honestly couldn't tell whether he was being sarcastic or not, but at least his smile seemed genuine. He had the reputation of a ladies' man, though Lemiria wasn't one to gossip. "All of the spell arts I have are at your disposal during this adventure!" Lemiria already knew of his skills; he'd been eyed by several councilors as being appointed the next Premier of the Magic Guild. The only thing barring him from that is his almost nonexistent past; whenever asked, he'd only crack jokes about it. If he had a past, it would have been a done deal, but it was an empty slate he refused to reveal.

"Next, we have Rex Ramus, of the Ramus Conglomerate." Glenn introduced the kid. "As you know, he's the heir to the Ramus estate, and is simply in awe of the opportunity to travel alongside you to learn more about the world!"

"That's only because I want to be able to invent all sorts of new products for sale at the store!" Rex huffed. He was scrawny and tiny, Lemiria thought, but the Ramus family was the real deal; their name was known all across Lunar. Ever since a thousand years ago during Majesty Lemina's reign, partnering with the Ramus family enabled Vane to get money. This also enabled the Ramus name to become a household name all around Lunar, with its 'franchising' dream come true; you couldn't step into any half-way developed town without a Ramus Mart giving its citizens a couple of jobs. Even if local businesses were going to be a thing of the past, the holders of the Ramus name were nice enough to work with businesses rather than against them. "Anyway, my inventions are sure to be of use to you on this journey, Lady Lemiria."

"I suppose I'll introduce myself." The beastwoman stepped forward and gave a curtsey. "I am Stella de Alkirk, of the Alkirk Household of Meribia!" She blew a kiss at Lemiria, which Lemiria then promptly dodged. "My healing arts are always a necessity, and I've been around more than my fair share of wandering hands; anybody who dares to lay a hand on us ladies is going to get more than a kick below the belt, if you know what I mean." Stella winked. The Alkirk name had been rather almost nonexistent over the past several hundred years, but Lemiria knew it because of Mel de Alkirk and Jessica de Alkirk, two of that household who had helped her ancestors.

Lemiria took a single look at these three, and knew one thing right off of the bat; they all had something to gain to be associated with her. Leon's case, he might actually get to be appointed as the Premier of the Magic Guild if he won her favor. Rex, his family would gain further standing with the Ausa clan and thus Vane, and it would do wonders for their family business. Stella… well, right. The Alkirk name wasn't really well-known anymore, and the previous head of that household, Nova de Alkirk, recently deceased. Their family still held governorship over Meribia, but they haven't accomplished anything noteworthy in generations. Scratching Celsius behind its ears, she assessed her new companions and was wondering what to make of them.

"I trust that they will serve you well on your journey, my daughter." Miralda placed her hand on Lemiria's shoulder. Out of respect for her mother, Lemiria swallowed her pride and simply nodded; she couldn't disappoint her mother any further than she already has.

Realizing the Celsius was purring, Lemiria smiled. "You're a good kitty, aren't you?" She chuckled. After a moment of though, she looked at her companions. "Well, I get to choose one more to come with us… everyone, say hello to Celsius." Lemiria smirked. Now she was ready.


	3. Chapter Two

"This is seriously bad news..." A feminine voice said.

Three figures were barely visible in that dark cave filled with water mazes and traps, yet none of the traps seemed to be set off.

"She's dead." Came the solemn words of a husky deep male timbre. "Not by natural means, either; she easily had several more centuries left in her."

"I sense foul play..." The third person spoke, his tone boyish. "But that kind of skill doesn't exist in Lunar, killing one of us."

"Then it's not someone from Lunar." The older and darker voice stated, after a few seconds of silence caused that dawning realization to engulf the three of them.

"How about the Magic Emperor?" The feminine figure suggested. "I mean, he had the ability to do something like this, didn't he? At least, that's what you said."

"The Magic Emperor died two thousand years ago." The third voice solemnly recollected. "But this wasn't magic."

"We have a new enemy on our hands, it seems." Said the eldest.

* * *

"I know that Ausa clan leaders in the past have traveled with felines, but seriously? This is pretty ridiculous." Rex stretched, leaning back on his chair. Not that he would dare say something like this is Lemiria's presence; her word was basically law, or close to it. Despite not being the Guildmaster, Lemiria still had a way about her which kept Rex's tongue at bay... not that he would ever admit it. "Besides, those cats turned out to be dragons. That one doesn't even have wings!"

"Now, now, there's no need to be all up in a huff." Stella pointed at Rex with her finger, perfectly manicured. Her smile was teasing and playful, enough to catch the attention of any other man in the tavern. However, it was in the middle of the day, and most of the town's men were out fishing. "If the Lady Lemiria wants something as small as a cat, then we should humor her on that at the very least; after all, we're going to be traveling together for quite a while. It would be in all of our best interests if we got along with her, to say the least."

"Coming to a backwater hick town like this wasn't something I agreed to." Rex murmured, making sure none of the locals (however few of them were present) couldn't hear. "There isn't even a Ramus Mart in the vicinity!"

Fingering the edge of the glass of water, Stella took a sip and set it down. "There isn't a decent manicure salon in this place, either, but you don't see me complaining."

The tiny town of Tone, east of Vane, settled next to the ocean and had become a prominent fishing spot, yet it wasn't known for much else. The residents seemed to prefer it that way. The group headed there because they honestly had no idea where to start on their wild goose chase for dragons (not that they would say this to Lemiria's face), but it seemed as good of a start as any. As tiny as Tone was, it also had lore akin to the prairie tribes; Lemiria and Leon had already set out to try to gather information. If there was something to be said about local folklore, it was that in Lunar most of the time it turned out to be true, especially regarding the dragons.

"I don't even believe in the existence of dragons." Rex crossed his arms.

"Oh? Why not?" Stella tilted her head, her interest now piqued.

"Everything has a rational explanation." Rex placed his finger on the table, as if to make a point. "The dragons were last seen in the pages of ancient history! Who's to say that they were even real dragons? Our ancestors could have very well mistaken something else for them, right? We have no proof or evidence of the goddess or the dragons. "

"True, the Goddess Althena hasn't manifested herself in two thousand years..." Stella responded, rather amazed that Rex held this view. "Not everything is rational, though. After all, how do you explain magic arts?"

"Those are rational." Rex nodded. "Magic has complex formulas and laws; it doesn't appear just out of thin air. Why else would Vane's Magic Academy have such complex courses? I've seen their text books, and there's a definite science behind them. Same with your healing arts, Stella; there's a certain physiological phenomenon that occurs with a few select people who are able to utilize healing arts, making them different from the magic arts Vane specializes in."

"And here I thought I was just praying to Althena for assistance." Stella tittered.

"Everything is cause and effect. Everything I've heard and read about dragons and the ancient wars in text books just sound ludicrous to the rational mind. The Blue Moon is just a giant ball of ice; there's no way we actually came from it."

"You have an answer for everything, don't you?" Stella leaned forward, resting her chin on her hands with her elbows on the table.

"That's because everything has a rational answer."

* * *

"I swear… it's like getting information out of a brick wall." Lemiria placed her palm on her forehead, sighing. Her efforts didn't go exactly as planned. While the citizens of Tone were more than happy to share folklore about their guardian deity, the Blue Dragon, none of the information really helped them know where to look.

"There's no need to worry, my sweet Lady Lemiria!" Leon smiled.

"Look, as long as we're outside of Vane, drop the formalities. It makes me uncomfortable." Lemiria glared at Leon.

"... There's no need to worry, my sweet Lemmings! "

Lemiria immediately elbowed him in the stomach.

"Ouch! Now that's harsh!" Leon whined sarcastically.

"Look, Master Kaiser, I know you're a powerful sorcerer. That doesn't mean you have to act like an ass, got it?"

"Well, Lemiria, just because you're a powerful figure in Vane doesn't mean you have to have anger issues, right?" Leon smirked.

"You are the most arrogant, cocky prima donna I've ever met!" Lemiria's eyebrows furrowed. "Do you really think getting on my bad side is going to make you the Premier of Vane?"

"I know that begging won't work." Leon responded, amused by Lemiria's reaction. "I know that you're self-righteous enough to not let your personal opinion affect your decisions about my status, and I know that kissing up to you isn't good for my health. In that way, we both win!"

Lemiria rubbed her temples. Dealing with this individual was truly a headache.

By the docks, an individual with blue hair, green eyes, and an odd tattoo of two green stripes on his cheek bone sat with his feet in the water, splashing. Lemiria noticed that she didn't see him there when she walked down this path before. However, Lemiria also noticed that his manner of dress, rags, was rather different than the local people. Deciding to give herself a break from Leon, Lemiria approached the young man with a smile.

Before Lemiria could say anything, the young man spoke. "The smell of the water is different in that direction." He pointed to the side.

Surprised, Lemiria sat down next to him. Leon continued to stand, a bit curious as to what was going on. "Smells different?" Lemiria asked. Aside from salty, she couldn't smell anything in the ocean.

"Like, a good kind of different, or somebody on a fishing trip had to relieve themselves kind of different?" Leon tilted his head.

The young man chuckled, despite Lemiria shooting Leon a dirty look. "I just thought you'd like to know, is all." The young man simply stated.

"It's the best lead we've got so far." Leon shrugged. "Hey, kid, if your nose is so sharp, want to join us for a boat ride?"

* * *

It was quite a surprise for Lemiria when she took her first step into the tavern. Whether that surprise was pleasant or not was indeed another story altogether.

"Lady Lemiria, you're back!" Glenn's figure was a commanding presence despite his middle-aged appearance. Lemiria knew that he traveled out and about in Lunar in order to promote the Magic Guild and keep an eye out for prospective students, but it was way too unexpected for him to suddenly arrive at the very town she and her group were headed to. Though Lemiria thought nothing of it, Glenn did have a blue flower on his collar. _A pathetic attempt at making himself seem normal_, thought Lemiria.

"Okay, who let it slip to Glenn that we were heading to Tone?" Lemiria lifted an eyebrow, her accusatory gaze attempting to pierce the souls of her companions. No such luck.

"I came here by coincidence!" Glenn faked a frown, acting as if an arrow had struck his heart. Lemiria wasn't even sure if he happened to have a heart. As long as she had known him, Glenn had a pleasant way about him, but always kept people at an arm's length. Whatever it was that caused him to be that way was of no consequence to Lemiria; she knew Glenn had no close friends, and that set off several red flags. "In any case, given that you're in Tone... I take it that you're searching for the Blue Dragon?"

"From the stories I've heard of the Dragonmasters of times past, it seems that it would be likely that the Blue Dragon Cave would be around here somewhere." Lemiria responded, taking a seat.

"That is, of course, assuming that they stay in one place for very long." Glenn nodded his head in a sagely manner. "I know if I happened to be a near-immortal dragon, staying in a dank cave for century after century would get a bit dull." He shrugged.

"If you don't approve of my journey, why did you vote for it as part of the Council? I know Lady Amber didn't approve, and if you didn't there would have been a deadlock and I wouldn't have been able to leave so soon." Lemiria narrowed her eyes. What kind of game was Glenn playing?

"You're the type to not believe anything until you've seen it with your own eyes. Faith isn't exactly a word I'd use to describe your world view, Lady Lemiria." Glenn gave a hearty laugh.

"Can't argue with that..." Rex agreed, nodding.

"Oh, like you're one to talk." Stella nudged Rex's shoulder playfully.

"Like I need you to tell me that." Lemiria sighed. Glenn told her this once before, when Lemiria couldn't conjure up even the most basic of elemental manipulation spell arts in his class. He said that she couldn't imagine it, feel it, and allow the spell algorithm to permeate her body and mind; her magic was supposed to be there. Once an Ausa gave birth to their heir, the Ausa aura containing the spirits of fire and ice began to leave them and take up residence in the new Ausa, made officially recognized by the people of Vane during the Ascension Rite. Given Miralda's deteriorating condition, the aura had to be inside of Lemiria somewhere. There was no logical way it could just up and vanish.

"Go and see with your own eyes. You won't find any Blue Dragon." Glenn got up, and made way toward the door.

Lemiria kept her arms crossed, thankful he was leaving.

"Wow, that was harsh." Leon softly commented, taking his seat next to Stella and Rex. Whether he was speaking of Glenn or Lemiria, nobody dared to ask.

* * *

"There it is." What would have taken a day's voyage only took an hour, thanks to Rex's invention of automated paddles which was far quicker than rowing. If there was anything Lemiria could say about Rex, it was that she was amazed that he could invent such things on the spot. With the young blue-haired man's keen sense of smell serving as their navigation, the group was glad to get to the island where the cave lay.

Of course, whether or not this was actually the Blue Dragon Cave or not was another thing entirely. "Well, there's a lot of water in this cave and the Blue Dragon is associated with water, right?" Rex piped. Right inside the cave, it looked as if it hadn't been touched in several centuries. There was, however, an eerie glow that permeated the cave, so that although there was no external light leaking in to illuminate the cavern, it was still enough to keep things visible.

"Even should there be no Blue Dragon here, there's no way a cave like this couldn't hold some treasure or something. Either way, we win!" Leon grinned, pumping his arms.

The clacking of Stella's heels echoed throughout the cave. "Those who can use spell arts radiate a certain signature, and those who use healing arts radiate a certain signature... there's a certain aura in this cavern, but I can't place my finger on it."

"Like a dragon signature?" Lemiria asked, stepping alongside Stella.

"That or the aura of monsters." Leon commented.

"A pessimistic view like that just invites them." Lemiria had asked the young man who lead them here to stay with the boat to guard it. There was no sense in exposing him to the dangers of the cave, should there have been any. "In any case, let's move on. If the dragon's here, it'll obviously be in the deepest inner sanctum."

"Isn't it always?" Stella agreed. "After all, it wouldn't be very much of a challenge for aspiring Dragonmasters, would it?"

Lemiria would never show it outwardly, but the Trials of the Dragons that the Dragonmaster had to go through told in stories made her blood boil with excitement! Taking that passion and allowing it to permeate her entire being, she stepped forward to lead the group.

"This is my chance to show you what I'm made of!" Taking Lemiria once again by surprise, the exuberant Rex ran forward in front of her brandishing some sort of mechanical monstrosity with Leon chasing after him to stop him, and-

A trap activated.

"Aieeee!" A trap was triggered. The ground gave way, and the group fell down a chasm.

"Good going." Leon dusted off his robe, not that it did any good against damp mud. He wasn't exactly amused, but he couldn't entirely get angry with Rex, either. Looking around, he lost sight of the others, calling out in the caverns wasn't going to be a good idea considering the presence of creatures less than friendly, and the only one in front of his was Rex.

"..." Rex couldn't make eye contact. It didn't take a genius to know that he messed up, and that knowledge was only compounded by the fact that he was a genius who knew better than that. "I'm sorry." He muttered, his pride obviously damaged.

"My fire-based spell arts should be good enough to at least frighten off the monsters in this cave." Leon strategized aloud.

"That's what I was trying to get at…" Ramus got up, and brandished his slightly dented doohickey. Leon had never seen a contraption like it before; it was a rubber glove with metal a palm and fingertips, connected to a pack on Rex's back. Right on cue, their arrival heralded a score of aquatic beasts, poised and ready to attack the two. "Get ready to deal with _this_!" The machine's power source began to hum and vibrate, and Rex unleashed a torrent of electricity unto the monsters, effectively destroying them in one fell swoop.

"Whew." Leon whistled, impressed. It was controlled enough to not shock the user or Leon, yet all of the monster horde was vanquished with seemingly little effort. "Did you stuff that thing with some lightning spell crystals or what?"

"Nothing as dangerous as that!" Rex beamed, powering down his machine in triumph. "It's electricity; no magic involved whatsoever, so it doesn't have the nasty side effects of magitechnology. Fitting for a non-magic user in Vane, right? It doesn't utilize elemental energy, so it's not likely to run rampant. You guys are powerful, so I've got to pull my weight in this group as well."

Leon applauded, though not in a mocking manner. "I admit it, I'm impressed." Leon smirked. "Now, let's get going, all right?"

Rex nodded.

* * *

"… Dammit, do the traps here include getting shocked?" Lemiria gritted her teeth. The shock was light, but still unpleasant. She had no idea where it came from, but electric shocks in a water-based cave? That was unusual, unless there were some lightning-based creatures that made their home here. Apparently Lemiria had to be prepared for all contingencies.

"Aside from the fact that we were separated, at least we're in one piece each." Stella offered her hand to Lemiria, who took it and stood up. "Or perhaps we took a shortcut…" Stella turned her head to the side, and noticed a rather ornate entrance which seemed out of place compared to the rest of the cave.

"I suppose that works out for us, doesn't it?" Lemiria smirked. The two made their way to the inner sanctum, and the cavern was almost as amazing as looking at the night sky; a large opening sprinkled with the glowing stones they saw throughout the cave seemed to glitter as crystals, creating an environment which left even Lemiria short of breath out of sheer awe. "Wow… this has to be it, right, Stella?" Lemiria turned to Stella, and was surprised to see both Leon and Rex come up behind her.

"It wasn't much of a maze, though there were bones here and there." Leon winked.

"B-b-b-bones?" Rex jolted, apparently unaware.

"Something's wrong." Stella interrupted, kneeling down and taking a look around the cavern. "Someone was here recently… footprints."

"Not only that, there's a bouquet of fresh blue flowers over here." Leon mused aloud, also exploring the cavern. "None of the cave's traps were sprung except when we walked in… what could that possibly mean?"

"… That's certainly not something you'd expect to see, either." Rex found something else in another corner, apparently a type of… something. It was a tube with the inscription of 'F.H.' on it, making Rex tilt his head. First off, there was no manufacturing place he knew of that had initials like that, and second off, it was obviously brought in from the outside.

"… So, something or someone _was_ here before." Lemiria sighed.

"Maybe, like the Goddess Althena, the Four Dragons are no longer part of this world." Leon stood up, crossing his arms.

"Right… right after with the Dragonmaster Alex, Althena vanished from the annals of history." Stella also stood up. "If Dragonmasters and Althena haven't been seen for the past two thousand years, then why should the dragons be any different?"

"But they _were _there, one thousand years ago during the War of Pentagulia!" Lemiria bit her lower lip. "I've studied those records extensively, and there's no way those dragon sightings were fake."

"As the most powerful of the vestiges Althena left in this world, perhaps it's simply taken this long for them to fade away as well." Stella lowered her head. "It's amazing we can even still use spell arts and healing arts. They are the Goddess' Gift to us, after all."

"I won't accept it…" Lemiria turned her head to the side.

Rex didn't have anything to add, but even in the limited lighting of the cavern, he could see the frustration on Lemiria's face. He wasn't about to tell her that he didn't believe in goddesses or dragons or dragonmasters. After all… people have repeatedly told him that there was no way to make technology without being reliant on magic, and Rex refused to participate in magitechnology.

"Let's head back." Leon began to walk toward the entrance. _Looks like Glenn was right…_

_

* * *

_

The atmosphere of the group was definitely somber as they made their way back to Tone, with nobody saying as much as a word. After returning to Tone, Lemiria thanked the young man who helped them, and the group headed back to the tavern. However, Lemiria was in for a pleasant surprise, for once.

She couldn't believe her ears! Myriel could definitely see that, and Myriel was glad that her news would excite her best friend so much, especially after such a depressing trip to the Blue Dragon Cave. "There have been dragon sightings in the southern regions?"

"Yes, Lemiria!" Myriel clasped Lemiria's hands into her own. Just having arrived at Tone to assist Glenn, Myriel heard quite the rumor right before she had left Vane. "I'm sorry to hear about what happened, but maybe that wasn't the real thing! The citizens of the city of Sphira have been abuzz, and a few eyewitnesses from the Magic Guild have also seen them flying through the sky. You should go, Lemiria!"

Lemiria's hope was definitely renewed, and a sense of determination could definitely be read on her face. Their next destination was quite clear.


	4. Chapter Three

"I've never been to Sphira before." Leon whistled, amazed at the size of the city. It was easily on par with either Vane or Meribia, and it seemed like it was here to stay unlike many other settlements which tended to come and go. Brick and concrete buildings towered the sky, and ornate fountains decorated open areas of the city. It was the biggest city in the southern area of Lunar with no competition, much like how Vane was near the center of the world and Meribia was the biggest city in the northern hemisphere.

"I have." Rex nodded. "Our third biggest Ramus Mart is in this city, so I came here on a few promotional runs. The vibe here is definitely on par with Vane and Meribia... plus, being a relatively newer city, it's not really tied to tradition. So while it's not rich in tradition, it's quite... progressive, in a sense."

"Is that the Ramus Mart right there?" Leon inquired, looking at a certain direction.

"... Ugh, yes." Groaned Rex as he turned away, a bit embarrassed. The Ramus Mart was quite tiny compared to the rest of the city, standing at only one story and being out of place compared to the towering buildings surrounding it.

"Well, since the Ramus Conglomerate is based in both Vane and Meribia, I suppose third largest isn't such a stretch." Stella teased playfully, tugging Rex's cheek.

"Ow, stoppit!" Rex tore himself away from Stella's grip, and rubbed his cheek. "Sphira's based on trade! Getting an established franchise running in this city is next to impossible because everybody's faithful to the local merchants! It's not too bad, though, because we can still import products from all around Lunar at a cheaper rate than local merchants since the Ramus Conglomerate is more internal than anything else."

"I see," Lemiria said. "This place is quite different, isn't it? Come to think of it, the Magic Guild doesn't get very many students from this region, do they?"

Leon shook his head. "Other than the nomadic prairie tribes southeast of here, Sphira's the only consistent settlement down here, and most prairie people don't seem to be interested in magic like Vane is. They prefer their nomadic ways, which is why they haven't changed much over the past several hundred years."

"It's a sad state of affairs." A voice that didn't fit whined, causing Lemiria and the others to turn around. It may have been difficult to get surprised after repeat performances, but Glenn did have an uncanny ability to sneak up on people.

"Glenn, what are you doing here?" Lemiria shook her head. Another headache was coming along. "First Tone, and now Sphira; are you intentionally following us around? It's bad enough you've assigned me three babysitters... well, two babysitters and one kid to watch over."

"I am not a kid!" Rex spat.

"I know you're not, Rex." Glenn patted Rex's head, grinning. Rex was not quite as amused.

"Oh, Lemiria, you know we think much more highly of you than that." Stella tittered, patting Lemiria on the shoulder. She continued, turning to Glenn. "In any case, Councilmember Glenn, what finds you here in this part of Lunar? We've already established that it's been difficult for Vane to recruit members from this part of the world."

"It's not unheard of " Leon commented, "Long ago, Majesty Mia Ausa once appointed a Premier who hailed from the prairie, as proof that Vane had opened its doors to all shortly after the Fall. If you look closely at his portrait in the library, he wore the ribbons of the prairie in his hair proudly."

"It's not like it was that simple, though. Nash was a particularly troublesome kid." Glenn said, stroking his chin with his hand. "The prairie tribes have changed very little in the past two thousand years of history in Lunar; as Vane is steeped in pretentious tradition, the prairie tribes have kept to their traditions as well, as such, the rest of Lunar looks down on them. They have their pride, that's for certain, and they're still fierce warriors of the land."

"That still doesn't explain why you're here." Lemiria stated, crossing her arms. "I swear, whenever you go into lecture mode, you easily get lost in your reverie. Can we please stay focused on the topic at hand?"

"You're searching for the dragons seen in the area, correct? That's the reason I'm here as well." Glenn nodded. "The dragons haven't been seen for the last thousand years since the War of Pentagulia. Of course, we don't know if the sightings aren't hoaxes or anything, either."

"True, there have been records of false dragon sightings, such as the one time a dragon turned out to be a giant overgrown toad." Rex tried to chime in, but otherwise he knew he didn't have much to add to this conversation either.

"That's happened more than once in history." Glenn grinned.

"Well, how does the mighty Glenn wish for us to approach this, then?" Stella came up to Glenn, fixing his collar while beseeching him for his help with her eyes. A slight purr could be heard in her breath.

"What a dangerous woman..." Lemiria observed, under her breath. However, anything to get Glenn to stop being so damn cryptic was a necessary evil, in her book. Just as long as she wasn't the one who had to do it.

"Why not check out the forest? There may be no caves there, but it's plenty big enough for a dragon or two to hide in. In the meantime, I'll keep an eye out here in town and see if I can come up with anything." Glenn suggested. His grin hinted that he enjoyed the attention of Stella just a bit, but once she got her information, Stella backed away slowly.

"That's the most straightforward I've ever heard you." Lemiria nodded. "Let's go."

"Why didn't you tell him that he was right about the Blue Dragon?" Rex asked, as the group made its way through the forest.

"Lemiria wasn't going to give him the satisfaction." Leon answered, giving the Ausa heir a grin.

"What a relief it is to have a lead after what had happened there, though." Stella added. "Besides, who knows? Maybe Glenn met the Blue Dragon once before, and like he said, it moved. After all, crazier things have happened." Judging by Lemiria's expression, however, Stella's efforts to be upbeat were in vain. Turning to Leon, Stella smiled. "This forest is quite something, though. You don't see forests like this near Vane or Meribia."

"All of these trees would be ideal for making coal and transforming that energy into electricity!" Rex beamed, walking ahead of the group.

"Rex, please be careful. Don't run ahead of the group." Lemiria warned him, not wanting a repeat of what happened in the cave earlier-

"Aieeeee!"

"You have to admit, it's actually rather hilarious in its timing..." Leon weakly smiled, as the group of four (and one cat) dangled in a network of ropes in the treetops.

"Aw, I broke a nail. Rex, I expect you to pay for a manicure." Stella teased, since she knew there was nothing to gain in this situation by getting angry.

It took all of Lemiria's strength to not scream at Rex, which resulted in her saying nothing at all as she fumed in her anger

Celsius let out an agitated meow.

"Leon, use a damn fire spell art to burn the ropes and get us down from here!" Rex shouted, struggling with the ropes to no avail.

"Right, that sounds like an excellent idea." Leon sarcastically responded. "After all, it's not like we're up in the treetops or that there aren't even more dangerous traps right below us or anything. Of course not!" Leon sighed. "Besides, I don't want to start a forest fire. Do you really think I'm an irresponsible arsonist?"

While those two were arguing, Lemiria made use of the time to use her sword to cut herself free from the ropes which entangled her, and held onto one with one arm and Celsius in the other to swing to a nearby branch. Surveying the immediate area, she could tell that this trap was a fresh one; whoever set it must have set it recently, and must be nearby to observe their quarry. Setting Celsius down on the branch for its own safety, Lemiria hopped down from branch to branch, and finally made it to the ground, making sure not to set off any more traps.

Hiding behind a tree trunk, she heard figures approaching.

"Finally caught those slave traders, have we?" A cocky voice rang out, revealing am elderly man with silver hair, though a streak down the middle was brown. Despite his rather seemingly daunting archaic age, he required no cane and walked nimbly. "And you said only idiots would fall for this trap, Ruby."

"Nall, be careful!" A pink-haired woman came after him. "You may be twice my age, but you're far more reckless than me. What are you going to do if one of these days you get over-excited and something happens to you? Then where will the kids and I be?"

"Quit your nagging, Ruby!" Nall growled, looking up and attempting to see the trap. This of course sparked a response from Ruby, and the two began to argue and apparently forgot their main point.

"Wow, those two make our group look like bosom buddies." Stella was rather amazed that the details of their conversation could be reached to where she and the others were being held in midair.

"Can't... breathe...!" Rex attempted to wiggle free, but he face kept on getting buried deeper and deeper into Stella's abundant chest.

"Almost got it..." Leon luckily had a dagger on him, and while Lemiria's cut ropes also managed to loosen him and the others up, they were still trapped. "Just this last one, and...!"

"Aieeeee!"

The three tumbled down ingloriously, and Leon and Rex landed flat on the back of Nall, while Stella managed to stay calm enough to use an litany to help her float down with a bit more grace.

"My... back...!" Nall managed to wheeze out.

"Nall!" Ruby cried out, running toward him.

"As you can see, we're not bandits." Lemiria stated, being seated in the lone building in the woods. "We're not here to kidnap your kids, either." She crossed her arms, as Ruby served the group tea. Nail seemed all right especially for an old guy who had two people fall on him, but it probably helped that both of the bodies that fell on him were scrawny and one wasn't even an adult.

"I'm so sorry you were caught up in our trap!" Ruby apologized, after placing bandages on both Leon and Rex. Stella would have healed them, but Ruby offered first and Stella simply stated that it would be rude to refuse a favor, after all. "It's just that we've been rather paranoid about bandits and thieves here and all; you see, we run an orphanage here in these woods, and some of these children have escaped from a life in slavery. You know how slave trade on the prairie has always been an issue, after all."

"It is." Stella crossed her arms and legs, suddenly solemn. "I think what you're doing here is great, Ruby. I only wish we could've helped you catch the bandits instead of what we ended up doing."

"It's not a big deal." Nall spoke, a bit less animated than he was before. "In any case, what does bring you all the way here? You don't see too many adventurers these days."

"We're on a journey to find the Four Dragons." Lemiria simply stated, with conviction. Celsius simply yawned as it continued purring, being petted by Lemiria on her lap.

"You want to become a Dragonmaster? There hasn't been one in two thousand years!" Nall laughed, though Lemiria's expression was as serious as ever.

"She's serious, I'm afraid, and we're all here to help her realize that goal." Leon shrugged, with a grin on his face. "Having a bit of tough luck so far, though; we went to a cave with no Blue Dragon, and we came down to this region because apparently there were dragon sightings."

"I'm just here for the food." Rex chimed in.

"Don't mind him; he's only saying that because he's hungry." Stella smiled.

"Well, we don't have any dragons here, but you may feel free to stay here for the night. Perhaps the children would like to hear tales of your adventures!"

"Tales of Lemiria, huh?" Leon chuckled. "I don't see why not."

"Hey, leave some for me! I've got things to tell about her, too!" Rex grinned.

"Thank you for your kind offer; I'll take you up on your hospitality. However, I'm afraid I don't do so well with children; as thanks, I will instead prepare dinner for all of us and your children, and call it a night." Lemiria bowed in respect.

"And you get angry at me for being all stiff and formal." Leon shrugged.

"Well, of course; she has to distinguish herself from the rest of us." Stella teased.

"We'll gladly take you up on your offer." Nall responded.

"We've been meaning to try to get a chance with you alone."

Before Nall and Ruby stood Celsius, tilting its head wondering what was going on.

"Please, feel safe with us." Ruby gave Celsius a gentle smile. "We're dragons as well."

Celsius tilted its head the other way.

"Look, Ruby, it's just a cat." Nall crossed his arms. "Besides, he doesn't even have any wings!"

"But..." Ruby turned to Nall. "The Blue Dragon was already killed. Wouldn't it be around this time that a new Blue Dragon would be born?"

"The next one to kick the bucket would have been the Black Dragon, if you ask me; the guy was already a geezer the time I was born two thousand years ago." Nall reminisced.

"You're twice my age, so by that math..." Ruby tilted her head.

"So, is that what I am... a dragon?" Both Nall and Ruby turned to the blue-haired, green-eyed youth with two green stripes tattooed on his cheekbone. Celsius seemed thoughtful.

"Maybe. It's hard to imagine it any other way." Ruby smiled, glad that he finally revealed his human form. "Though, you don't have the Blue Dragon Aura... yet you have the ability to shift into a human appearance? It took me a good couple hundred years to be able to shift my appearance after attaining the Red Dragon Aura..."

"It still doesn't make any sense." Nail still had his arms crossed.

"Nail, don't be like that." Ruby admonished him. "It was a great tragedy when the Blue Dragon passed away, so seeing her heir is a good reminder that it's not all over, yet." She turned to Celsius. "In any case, even so... would you mind keeping an eye out on Lemiria and the others for us?"

"You want me to watch over them for you?" Celsius asked.

"Yes." Ruby affirmed. "You see, two thousand years ago, Nall watched over the last Dragonmaster, Dragonmaster Alex. One thousand years ago, I was involved in the War of Pentagulia and with Lucia of the Blue Star. Nall and I have out place here." She attempted to explain. "If Lemiria is truly destined for greatness, I'm certain that you, Celsius, are also destined for something."

"Destiny..." Celsius looked at his own hands.

"It's strange..." Ruby commented, "I feel a certain kinship with you, like a sense of camaraderie when I look at you. I'm certain that must mean that you're the Blue Dragon! When you mature enough, you'll be able to claim the Blue Dragon Aura in the Blue Dragon Cave, and become a full-fledged dragon."

"I suppose I'll do my best for you two, then." Celsius nodded respectfully before his seniors. He then turned back into his cat form.

"..." Nall didn't seem convinced, and it was quite obvious on his face.

"Nall, Ruby, we have a problem!" Rex came, barging through the door. "The children are missing!"

"...I see what happened." Lemiria bit her lower lip, kneeling down to observe the tracks. "Because we set off the trap from before, they found an opening into the orphanage... I'm so sorry." She stood up, unsure of what to say.

"Dammit, we forgot to reset it." Nall gritted his teeth.

"Since this is our fault, we all know what we have to do!" Leon winked, giving everyone a thumbs up.

"... no, I'm not staying here and being their replacement kid!" Rex pouted.

"Nobody's asking you to, Rex." Lemiria solemnly spoke, trying in vain to maintain the serious atmosphere of the situation. "It means we're going to chase after the bandits and take back the children."

Surveying the surrounding area for clues, Stella's eyes widened in surprise as she recognized something; picking up a bandana, there was no mistaking it. Gritting her teeth, unpleasant memories began to resurface in her mind. Stuffing the bandana in her pocket, she turned to the others. "Child trafficking is still a major concern in this region, and a lot of people buy kidnapped children as slaves. I think I may have an idea where they might be holding the children to... make them more suitable for auctioning off."

"Have you been down here before, Stella?" Nall asked.

"I grew up in Meribia, but yes, I've been down here a couple of times." Stella answered with a straight face. "I know that they're probably using a hideout near the old inactive volcano."

"That place-!" Ruby gasped.

"In any case, that's our next destination." Lemiria nodded.

"Are you sure this volcano is inactive?" Leon asked.

"Of course it is! I've studied the geological reports before we left on our journey. Mostly out of boredom, but yeah." Rex reaffirmed.

"You certainly do the strangest things when you're bored. Though I suspect that will change in a few years when you finish puberty." Leon shrugged.

Oddly enough, Stella didn't chime in, and instead her focus and determination seemed to rival Lemiria's usual temperament. "We're here." She stated, taxing on a fighting stance as the bandit guards began to approach.

"Let's rumble." Lemiria grinned, her adrenaline coursing through her veins at the thought of battle.

"The land, rich with Althena's blessing, I beseech you; engulf our enemies in an unholy sepulcher of pain! Glaive!" Leon chanted as a magic working appeared underneath him, and with a flick of his wrist the party's opening attack caused shards of the land to jut up and block the bandits from advancing, giving Lemiria and Stella plenty of openings to attack. Doing just that, Lemiria unsheathed her blade and began her elegant fencing moves, piercing the bandits' joints to immobilize them as Stella used her fists and knees to show them they shouldn't have messed with her. Rex unleashed a flurry of arrows from his automated crossbow machine to clean up the field, and the group stood at the entrance of the hideout, uncontested.

"We seem to be working together a lot better than we used to." Leon applauded, rather proud of the group's team efforts. "Remember when a single battle used to take half an hour because we kept on hitting each other instead of the monsters?"

"In your case, I think you were intentionally aiming for us…" Rex sighed.

Stella simply stared at the bodies, and sighed. He wasn't here. The owner of the bandana was nowhere to be found in this group… had be already left to another part of the process? It enraged Stella to think that he was still doing this sort of dirty work, out of frustrating she kicked one of the unconscious bandits before moving on to the cave.

"The children seem safe." Lemiria gave a sigh of relief. Stella was surprised, as she didn't even realize they were already in the cave. "Ruby, are all of them accounted for?"

Ruby took a moment to look around, and smiled. "Yes, they're all here."

"Hey, can you make sure these kids make it back to the orphanage?" Nall asked a young man. The young man accompanying them simply nodded, and took the children. Nall let out a small smile. "He's one of the kids we had several years ago. He's grown up into a fine young man, being one of the city council members of Sphira."

"It must be nice seeing the fruit of your labor of love." Leon responded.

"… you have my thanks for saving my children, everyone." Ruby spoke, everybody turning to face her. Suddenly, she was no longer a middle aged woman, but a pink flaying cat. "I have something to show all of you; please, follow me to the inner sanctum of this, the Red Dragon Cave."

"Ruby, are you really doing this?" Nall lifted an eyebrow.

"Yes, Nall; I owe them my thanks for saving the kids." Ruby adamantly responded, her wishes made known.

Following her into the depths of the cave, the group was honestly surprised by seeing a flying cat with wings, but they weren't entirely sure how to act about it. "Who would have known that this cave was also the Red Dragon Cave?" Rex asked aloud.

"It's been a long time since I've had to come here." Ruby responded, finally making it to the inner chambers. In a flash of light, she suddenly grew in size and the sight of a magnificent dragon took everyone's breathes away."That's why I was unaware that it was already discovered and being used by slave traders."

"… Dragons are real…" Lemiria rubbed her eyes as a smile exposed itself. "Dragons are real!" Lemiria could only stand in awe of Ruby, a majestic presence which Lemiria had only heard stories of. Those stories didn't do any justice to the real thing. Her knees shaking, Lemiria knelt down, unable to stand any longer in such a situation.

"Okay, so we've established the fact that dragons are, in fact, real. Which means you've brought us here for a reason, right?" Leon asked, perceptive as always.

"There hasn't been a Dragonmaster for the past two thousand years. One thousand years ago during the War of Pentagulia, Lucia of the Blue Star awoke our power to fight against Zophar. This time, there is a new threat to Lunar… our comrade, the Blue Dragon, was murdered. That's why you found nothing at the Blue Dragon Cave." Ruby explained.

"A Dragonmaster exists to be Althena's personal guardian and protector. Althena no longer exists in a physical form in this world." Nall crossed his arms. "I was there… she chose to live out a life as a human, and to end her life as a human. Her gift to the world of Lunar being her blessing, the energy used for all sorts of spell arts, so that humans could forge their own future ahead without a goddess watching over their shoulders… so that they could grow up and become adults, and stand up on their own two feet."

"As a reward for your efforts, I will bestow upon you, Lemiria Ausa, the Red Dragon's Blessing… however, be aware that the time of Dragonmasters is past. Not only that, but…"

"With the Blue Dragon dead, there is no way to attain the blessings of all four dragons." Nall silently stated.

"If there is a new threat in the world of Lunar… maybe we don't need a Dragonmaster. But we do need somebody to stand up against it." Lemiria spoke, rising up. "I am going to be that person! I don't care if I can't become a Dragonmaster in name, but I will serve Lunar in this capacity, should you give me your blessing."

"This is the first I know of an Ausa striving for the powers of the dragons. I look forward to seeing how this all plays out." With those words, Ruby let loose a wave of red energy as it permeated and filled the room, and then funneled into Lemiria.

"It is done." Ruby sighed, sitting down, now back in her cat form. It was clear that she was exhausted.

"… who are you, Nall?" Leon narrowed his eyes. "You speak as a dragon would. Does that mean you, too, are a dragon like Ruby?"

Nall simply nodded. "I'm the White Dragon."

"Well, that makes things simple, doesn't it? Two dragons down in one trip!" Stella clapped her hands together.

"That's way too convenient…" Rex wiped some sweat from his brow.

"… I'm not convinced."

"All right." Lemiria faced Nall. "I understand; I'm not going to expect you to hand me something I didn't earn." Her eyes now were ablaze with determination, her vigor renewed. Whether it had to do with the blaze of passion in the Red Dragon's blessing or from within, Lemiria was ready to take on all of Lunar.

Nall picked up Ruby, and smirked. He was beginning to respect Lemiria and her attitude.


	5. Chapter Four

"So the dragon sightings weren't a hoax after all! I'm so happy for you, Lemiria!" Myriel enthusiastically shared in Lemiria's excitement. Going through Zanza Pass, it was a slight surprise running into Myriel there. It was still a far more pleasant surprise for Lemiria to see Myriel here than if it turned out that Glenn was following them around. Sitting down in a hotel room, they continued their exchange. "So you've received the Red Dragon's blessing... what was it like?"

"It was amazing, to say the least." Lemiria couldn't stop grinning. "It's like all of the stories we heard when we were children just all of the sudden clicked and made sense!" Realizing that she was actually happy, Lemiria halted in her tracks. It was a long time since she experienced happiness, after all, and she didn't want to set herself up for disappointment. With everything in Vane never going her way until she was granted leave to be able to go on this journey, Lemiria finally had some relief. "I mean, they were rather straightforward about the fact that becoming a Dragonmaster is impossible because the Goddess no longer governs the world of Lunar, so the protector of the Goddess is no longer necessary... but maybe if I complete this journey, something amazing will happen. I just know it!"

"I'm certain that it will." Myriel reassured her.

The group found themselves in Zanza Pass, connecting the lands between Vane and the southern and western regions of Lunar through mountainous regions. Because of the narrow nature of the mountain paths Zanza Pass was a joint effort between several cities to ensure safe passage for travelers from potential bandits, especially Vane and Meribia.

"It's a good thing that we've run into each other, Lemiria." Myriel continued. "Things in Vane are a bit uneasy."

"What?" Lemiria's excitement suddenly was overtaken by concern. "What do you mean, Myriel?"

"There are erratic and odd energy signatures being detected from the Frontier." Myriel attempted to explain. "I don't know the details myself, but that's because even our most highly-skilled scholars can't seem to identify them. When Noel found out, I had a feeling he knew more than he was letting on, but..."

"The Kaisers are full of mystery, aren't they?" Lemiria crossed her arms. "Leon's been nothing but a pain in the ass this entire journey so far. I swear, if it weren't for the fact that he's a damn good sorcerer..." Lemiria muttered.

"Even so," Myriel continued, "I wanted you to be careful, all right?" Lemiria was a bit surprised since Myriel never really stopped one of Lemiria's rants before, but she didn't think twice about it. "If even the most skilled in Vane are wary about this, I want to make sure you watch your back, all right?"

"I will, Myriel." Lemiria nodded.

"Auntie Mira's doing all right, so far." Myriel commented, thinking that Lemiria was probably too afraid to ask. That was only half true. Lemiria then realized that in her excitement over the dragons, she hadn't given her mother a solitary thought; the very notion of that started to wrack Lemiria's mind with guilt, and it began to show on her face. Noticing, Myriel simply continued on, knowing that it would do no good to fuel that guilt by exposing it. "After I'm done here, I plan to go back to Vane. Should your journey ever find you passing by, I hope that you would pay a visit. If nothing else, recuperating there would do you a world of good, I'd think." Myriel simply smiled that gentle smile she possessed, which always seemed to make Lemiria feel better.

Lemiria thought for a few moments, and noticed something. Quietly walking toward the door of the room, Lemiria slammed it open, revealing an eavesdropping Leon hunched by the door.

"Oh, Sir Leon!" Myriel giggled. "It's been ages since I've seen you!"

"What the Hell are you doing?" Lemiria sternly asked, obviously a rhetorical question. "How long did you think you could eavesdrop in on our conversation before I noticed?" She voice began to border on a yell.

"Well, considering how quiet I've been, I was expecting maybe a few more minutes..." Leon grinned.

"I'm going to kill you!" Screamed Lemiria.

* * *

Walking around the shops of Zanza Pass, Stella obviously had something on her mind. The owner of that bandana... what was he doing? The amount of money he received from that one time was enough to set him up for life in retirement, so why...? "Look, I know that Cyanide is still doing business. Where is he now?" She demanded to know, placing her palms on the table after walking down inside of a hidden passage. She wasn't proud of it, and being down in this 'secret room' was giving her the chills from her memories. But this was important to her, important enough for her to dip her toe in her past. "He shouldn't be doing this anymore." She gritted her teeth.

"Look, lady, I don't know." The slave trader responded, lifting an eyebrow. "We do still receive shipments from him, but other than that, I don't know where he is. He's probably out still gathering more assets for us to clean up."

"These are people you're talking about!" Stella slammed her fist on the table. "Don't talk about them like they're property! What if it were your own child in there?"

The slave trader simply yawned. "Look, you wanted information, and I don't have it. Life goes on. Now, please leave before I get the muscle in here."

"No need." Stella snarled, turning around and heading toward the staircase. She had enough of what she could stomach of the place, anyway.

On the surface, the scent of fresh air helped calm Stella down, and she decided that she may as well hit the shops if there was nothing better to do. Using her instincts, Stella made a beeline toward the bargains to help get her mind off of what had just happened, and ran into Rex.

"Hey, Stella, how did things go?" Rex beamed, deciding to join her.

"Oh, it's all right. I don't think there's any information concerning the dragons around here, though." Stella winked.

"I guess so," Rex responded. "I still can't believe what I saw with my own eyes in the Red Dragon Cave, though..." Rex shook his head. "I mean, I believe in dragons now, but... this is pretty amazing, isn't it? I mean, from an outside perspective, this is a pretty high-profile thing we have going on: two of the most well-known figures of Vane, the heir of the Ramus Corporation, and the governor of Meribia, an Alkirk. I think we're all pretty awesome!" Rex beamed.

"We all are, aren't we?" Stella solemnly commented, though Rex couldn't notice.

"Oh, there you are." Lemiria commented, walking up to Stella and Rex. Behind her was a limping Leon using his stave as support. Stella and Rex knew better than to ask.

"Were you able to find any new information?" Stella asked.

Lemiria shook her head.

"At this point, I think it might help a bit if we headed back to Vane to go over some of the ancient texts to try to figure out our next move. There should be a clue as to where the White Dragon Cave should be, right?" Stella responded.

"I was thinking of heading back there, myself, so that works out." Lemiria commented. "Let's finish up what we have to do here, and then we-"

Suddenly, a large explosion could be heard from the western gate causing several heads to turn.

"Everyone, there's an attack at the gate!"

"It's you..." Lemiria recognized the blue-haired young man as the person they met in Tone who helped them get to the Blue Dragon Cave.

"That much is obvious." Leon responded, wincing at the pain he was in due to Lemiria's earlier beating.

"The odd thing is that... the people who caused it don't even look like they're from Lunar!" The young man revealed.

* * *

After Stella healed Leon's injuries with a litany, the group rushed over to the western gate and what they've been informed of was true; a red-skinned muscular man in rather barbaric gear was guffawing, admiring his chaotic handiwork against the gate. Given that his shirtless outfit left very little to the imagine regarding his physique (which happened to be at least twice as large in terms of muscle than anybody else in the vicinity) as well as the display of strength from his odd weaponry to the sturdy gate, nobody dared to approach him. Behind him were a couple of underlings, also red-skinned and covered in tribal tattoos.

Brandishing her sword, Lemiria stood in the clearing. Stella readied her clawed gloves, while Leon and Rex took their positions behind them.

"Finally, challengers!" The red-skinned man sneered. "Do you think you can stand up to the mighty Dragon Slayer, Fairen Haite!"

"Dragon Slayer...?" Lemiria took a step back. Was this guy for real?

"Fairen Haite...? F.H.?" Leon suddenly realized, and took out the odd contraption he found in the Blue Dragon Cave. "I get it... I wondered what this was for a while, but now it makes sense. It's some sort of magazine for a long-ranged weapon, isn't it?" Rex stepped forward, more curious than anything else.

"That's right, I'm the one who slayed the Blue Dragon! What a magnificent beast that was!" Fairen once again laughed. At this point, Lemiria found his laughs more grating than ever. "I even took back a trophy!" Fairen took out a cerulean jewel and held it up high. "I'm going to slay all the dragons of Lunar, the next being the White Dragon in the north!" This guy was obviously insane.

"You bastard...!" Lemiria poised her sword, and ran toward Fairen. Immediately, his cronies stepped in front of him, poised to defend him.

"Spirits of red, dance for me! Unleash a fiery passion that cannot be tamed! Brimstone Flare!" With a flash of red in his eyes, Leon snapped his fingers and unleashed an explosion of fire right in the middle of Fairen's henchmen, making enough for a distraction for Stella to knock them down and out of Lemiria's way.

"Lemiria! Hold your sword up in the air! Trust me!" Rex shouted. Lemiria, not entirely certain what Rex was going for, decided to trust him as she jumped high up into the air, holding her blade up. "Let's do this!" Rex quickly set down his pack, and pulled a string, causing a barrel to jut out from his pack and shoot out a flash of energy, which then merged with Lemiria's blade, extending it.

"Hyaaah!" Lemiria screamed, slashing down at Fairen. Fairen managed to move out of Lemiria's direct line of attack, but didn't manage to evade it completely; wincing, Lemiria could tell that she did some damage as he gripped his left arm tightly, yet... he was grinning? He grabbed her blade, energy extension and all, and slammed Lemiria against the pole. Stella attempted to take the opportunity to find an opening and strike, but as she kicked Fairen managed to grab hold of her leg and slam her into Lemiria.

"... This doesn't look good." Rex took a step.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious." Leon gritted his teeth. Neither of them were going to be any good in close-ranged combat; the time it took to either complete an incantation or set up a machine, they would both be taken out by the big burly guy's strength.

By the time it took Leon and Rex to figure that out, Fairen came at them with both of his fists.

"Silence Barrier!" In an instant, am enormous black wall formed between the heroes and Fairen, causing Fairen to hit the wall. Both sides were surprised.

"This spell...!" Leon narrowed his eyes. Not only did it have zero casting time, it was a Telos spell art, and Leon knew only one person who still had that ancient knowledge. A smirk crossed Leon's face. "Thanks, Glenn."

"Don't mention it." Glenn came up behind both Leon and Rex, and with a snap of his fingers the barrier wrapped itself around Fairen, finally giving the party some breathing time. Lemiria and Stella stepped up, and approached them; Stella was able to cast a few healing litanies to recover Lemiria and herself. "After all, it's against my character to ignore two lovely ladies in need!"

"I know one of them is lovely, but..." Leon whispered to himself

"Look, can we skip the usual pleasantries and puzzle games as to why you're here, Glenn?" Lemiria's expression remained serious. "We happen to have a Dragon Slayer on our hands, here." She pointed to Fairen, who was still frozen in the barrier

"That barrier's going to wear off, soon." Leon explained. "We know we're not a match for him as we are now, as much as my pride would hate to admit it."

"I didn't realize that you had any pride..." Lemiria muttered under her breath.

"I have an idea of what to do..." Glenn smirked.

* * *

Standing on the edge of a cliff, Glenn happily undid the spell, causing Fairen to tumble down the mountain. His surprised scream could've been heard for miles, yet it was music to Glenn and the party's ears.

* * *

"... He said that the White Dragon Cave is to the north." Lemiria thought aloud. "Do you think that's where Nall's cave is?"

"We can cross reference it with texts from Vane." Leon added. "The Dragon Caves are one of the biggest secrets, so much that even records in Vane are scarce. Most of them are purposely vague in order to protect the dragons; after all, the Magic Emperor was able to find and kill the White Dragon from deceiving the previous Dragonmaster, Alex."

"We've been meaning to stop by Vane, anyway, so we could head to Meribia and after that and take a boat to Theis, on an island in the northern hemisphere." Stella continued. "It's cold up there, so we should probably prepare some warm clothes."

"I'm still bothered by that red-skinned guy, Fairen." Rex admitted. "That blue-haired guy was right; those guys didn't look like any race I know in Lunar."

"Right now, there are too many unanswered questions." Lemiria hated to admit. She then looked at Glenn. "How did you know that the Blue Dragon wasn't going to be at its cave, Glenn? Only the other dragons should know that the Blue Dragon is dead." As Lemiria spoke, the cat Celsius rubbed up against her leg, prompting her to pick it up and begin petting it. If nothing else, it began to calm Lemiria down.

"Who knows? Maybe I'm a dragon!" Glenn teased.

"If you're a dragon, I'm quitting my journey right here and now," Lemiria said, unamused.

"Now isn't the time for jokes." Leon coughed. "For now, let's head to Vane and cross reference the ancient texts; we don't want our journey to Theis to be in vain, do we?"

"I suppose not." Stella shrugged.

"By the way, Rex, I'm impressed by that move back there." Lemiria said, turning to Rex. "What was that?"

"Oh, yeah!" Rex beamed. "When I was looking at your sword earlier, I had realized that there's a rubber layer on both your hand and your gloves, so I thought I could fire energy at your sword! That way it doesn't hit you, and your sword has amazing retention when it comes to conducting energy. So I basically put a paralysis-based energy beam onto your sword. Not only does your sword get an extension to increase your range, it also adds an extra 'oomph'! Pretty cool, huh?"

Stella whistled. "You're a smart one, Rex. I didn't understand half of that, but kudos to you for figuring that all out."

"I look forward to seeing what else you can come up with." Lemiria softly smiled, continuing to stroke her cat.

* * *

Back in Vane, the Lemiria went to visit her mother and Leon went to see Noel, leaving Stella and Rex to the library.

"Studying was never one of my strong subjects." Stella sighed, leaning back and crossing her legs after reading only a paragraph. "They really need to update these with modern rhetoric; do they really expect the average Lunarian to understand this archaic mumbo jumbo?" Flipping through the pages, she sighed once again as she closed the book.

Looking over, she saw Rex furiously reading through the pages of a book.

"I knew you study fervently in order to be able to know the things that you know, but..." Stella raised an eyebrow.

"Dammit, they got it all wrong!" Rex slammed down a book in frustration.

"Got what wrong?"

"My name!" Rex held up the book and showed it to Stella. "My parents named me after the last Dragonmaster, but they got it wrong! Instead of Alex, they named me Rex! They messed up the symbols or something or my ancestor had really crappy handwriting! Augh, this blows!" Rex put down the book and went facedown into it.

"It's okay, Rex!" Stella sat next to Rex, and ran her fingers through his hair in an attempt to comfort him. "You're Rex, and you've done a lot to help us on this journey. Trust me, as an Alkirk, what I say is truth! Besides, we've been talking about the Dragonmasters including Alex ever since the beginning of this journey. Why bring this up now?"

"Mmmfh." Rex simply groaned from his face in the book. "I was hoping that it was just a different dialect or something."

_Smart kid, though oblivious at other things…_ Stella smiled more to herself than anyone else. "Look, I'm going to try to find out some more information from these texts. Could you go and find Leon and tell him that it seems like going north is our best bet?" Stella nudged Rex, and he finally conceded.

Rex didn't know the layout of Vane all too well, given that he was oftentimes buried in the basement of the Ramus Corporation headquarters, but he knew it well enough to at least read the directory. Finding out where Leon's room was wasn't such a problem, but as he went up the stairs he heard voices. Unable to sate his curiosity, he sat still, and it amazed him that nobody ever seemed to realize how similar Leon and Noel's voices were.

"It's getting worse, isn't it?" Leon noticed, as Noel stood there, coughing. "The deterioration... unfortunately, during my travels, I've found nothing that even hints at counteracting it."

"It's all right, brother." Noel continued trying to speak between bursts of coughing. "I've already come to accept that I don't have much longer."

"Dammit, Noel! We were discarded together, and we promised each other we'd live!" Leon grabbed Noel's shoulders. "Don't give up so easily! I've already made a deal with Councilwoman Amber Lutice... if I do as she says, she'll do everything she can to make sure you live!"

Rex couldn't believe his ears. _So Noel was apparently dying, but due to what?_ _Come to think of it, Leon never did say much about his past. And what did Councilwoman Amber have to do with any of this?_ Sneaking a peek, Rex's eyes widened in surprise as Noel coughed so hard, his hood came off.

He looked exactly like Leon, but with platinum blonde hair... and had pointed ears.

Given they weren't beastmen, and the tattoos around his neck, Rex knew. Both Leon and Noel were members of the Magic Tribe.

Adorned with tattoos of the ancient Vile Tribe.


	6. Chapter Five

It felt like it had been forever since she stepped foot in Meribia, and the familiar security of being home brought Stella enough of a benefit to her mood; she was back to her old self almost right away. "Welcome to Meribia!" she quickly gave the party a quick tour. The sea breeze and the sunshine were completely rejuvenating for her "There's the largest Ramus Mart in the world, there's the docks, there's the hospital..." She continued on, chipper as ever.

"I guess a flower really does blossom prettiest when placed in its home soil." Leon observed to Lemiria and Rex, as Stella continued to cheerfully take them on tour.

"What do flowers have to do with Stella?" Rex asked, tilting his head.

"Before you answer that, think carefully about the fact that I have a sword and you have no armor whatsoever." Lemiria monotonously mentioned, before walking ahead of the two. Leon wasn't entirely certain whether she was kidding or not, but he knew enough from her punches that her sword strikes were probably not something to be trifled with.

The tour continued on, and made its way to the governor's mansion. "And this is where I live!" Stella concluded. "We can stay here for tonight, since a boat to Theis won't be available until tomorrow."

"Question." Rex raised his hand. "If you're the current governor, who's running the city while you're on this journey with us?"

"Excellent question!" Stella responded. "Several generations ago, the Alkirk family established a city council. While the Alkirk family still holds the title of governorship, the city council is actually the one who runs most things. The governor is free to suggest things and offer their input, but we've become little more than figureheads over the years."

"That's kind of depressing." Leon pursed his lips.

"Not really." Stella continued, "I know I'm not qualified to run a huge city like this. This frees things up for me. Besides, haven't you noticed when we were on the tour, I wasn't exactly a celebrity? A few people said hi to me, but I wasn't mobbed or anything like that."

"I begin to see." Lemiria commented. The Alkirk family was already notorious for being involved in several scandals over the past several centuries, to the point where they hid away from public view. As it was now, however, Lemiria was tired, and wanted to get to bed. The sun was beginning to set, and it was an exciting few days they just had. It was about to get busier, so Lemiria decided to go and get some rest.

Surveying the Alkirk residence, Lemiria noticed something odd. "Stella? Why aren't there any pictures of you as a young girl?" There were plenty of photos of the late Nova de Alkirk and a young Stella, but none of Stella as a child... or of a wife for Nova.

"Wow, you're right." Leon lifted an eyebrow. "Cute kid, though."

"Photographs weren't invented until about a hundred years ago, and given that there are plenty of Nova in his youth, the Alkirk family must have had access to photography equipment for a while." Rex added.

"I... um..." That caught Stella off guard.

"Come on, now, you all didn't hear about what happened? Nova de Alkirk never had a wife, but he did have an estranged lover. About fifteen years ago she sent her daughter Stella to live with her father. It was big news at the time." Leon grinned, sensing Stella's reluctance. "Besides, there are hallways filled with portraits of the previous Alkirks! Even if she did have baby pictures, they're probably in storage!"

"I suppose that makes sense." Lemiria sighed. She didn't feel like arguing with Leon at the moment.

* * *

The light from the Blue Moon bathed the city of Meribia and few lights were on, considering that it was one of the few nights when the night life didn't take over Meribia. Taking a seat on the balcony overlooking the rest of Meribia, Stella was deep in thought.

"I would have thought that of all places, you'd be able to sleep well in your own home." Stella turned around and saw Leon approaching her. Standing next to her, he also partook in the scenic view of Meribia with Stella.

"So you've noticed?" Stella pulled back a few of her bangs behind her ear. "I've had insomnia since I was a little girl. The only times I were able to sleep peacefully were when my father rocked me to sleep." After a pause, Stella looked up at Leon. "Thanks for getting Lemiria and Rex off of my back, earlier." She thanked him. She didn't know his reasons for doing so, and he must have been curious as well, but…

"You must have several fond memories of your father." Leon commented, interrupting Stella's thought process. "I don't know a lot of people who knew the late Nova de Alkirk, but you're the first to speak so highly of him."

"He was a great man." Stella turned once again to the view of Meribia. "Greater than any man I have known. So... the reason I'm on this journey is to try to reestablish the Alkirk name as prominent, that we haven't lost our nobility, that we still fight for Lunar. I want to restore our legacy, that we're every bit as strong as the legendary Hell Mel or Jessica de Alkirk."

"Fulfilling a legacy is next to impossible. You're always going to only be yourself, even if other people only view you as a shade of what came before you." Leon somberly commented.

Stella wouldn't tell Leon, but she didn't want to be who she was. She hated who she was. She wanted to be the daughter to Nova that could do everything that an Alkirk could once do, those thousands of years ago. Biting her lower lip, Stella wasn't sure what she could do about it.

* * *

As a bit of a surprise to even Stella, the townspeople of Meribia decided to send her off with a small celebration.

"You left before so suddenly, we didn't even get a chance to say good-bye!" A councilmember stated.

"Well, it was a rather sudden journey…" Stella glanced at Lemiria for a second, before returning her attention to what was at hand. "But this is entirely unnecessary-"

"Stella, give it a rest and let them do it." Leon placed his hand on Stella's shoulder. "After all, it's ungrateful to refuse a gift, right? Let them do what they're going to do, and we can be on our way. No big deal."

"A-all right." Stella gave in. However, walking up to the podium, her cloak got caught on one of the boat's nails, and ripped. The wind picked up, and ducking trying to gather her clothes, Stella's back was exposed for the entire crowd to see.

"Talk about a wardrobe malfunction..." Leon began to step forward to help, before a rather maniacal laughter could be heard in the crowd. Leon noticed that there were scars on Stella's back, and remnants of a tattoo or brand.

"So, it's you…" A voice from the crowd spoke.

Stella's eyes widened; she recognized that voice. "No... no! You shouldn't be here!" Memories began to flood back into her mind. "You're not supposed to be here...! Why?" Taking out the bandana she found, she knew who this was.

A rather daunting figure began to walk up onto the pier. Tall, well dressed in a suit, yet even the refined and polished clothing couldn't hide the rough nature of the individual being shown through his face. Scarred and square-jawed, the counterfeit gentleman stopped right in front of Stella, bent down, and took the bandana from her hand and stuffed it in his check pocket. "So nice of you to return what belongs to me, to me." He sneered.

"Cyanide...!" Stella gritted her teeth. "You're to never step foot in Meribia! That was the agreement! "

"Oh, you're still passing for an Alkirk?" Cyanide grinned, turning to face the horrified crowd. However, it seemed that the ordinary townspeople couldn't bring themselves to do anything. "That contract couldn't be honored if the original signer, Nova de Alkirk, is dead."

"Stop it, Cyanide! Just leave!" Stella screamed.

"Look." Lemiria stepped forward, after setting Celsius down. "I don't know who you are or what your beef with Stella is, but you're pissing on this parade without the decency to even call it rain. Now, she's asked you plenty of times to leave. Don't make me make you leave." Lemiria's eyes narrowed.

"Yeah, Stella's a respected member of this community! Butt out!" Rex stepped back, honestly a bit intimidated by this man, but at least Lemiria was between Rex and Cyanide.

"You've chosen a really bad attitude accessory to go with your fashion statement." Leon crossed his arms.

"Oh?" Cyanide smirked, turning to the party. "You actually think that this piece of meat is a distinguished Alkirk? Though, judging by the previous generations, the Alkirks are no better than glorified dogs..."

"Shut up! Just stop it!" Stella continued to scream.

"... What are you talking about?" Rex was afraid to ask.

One by one, the crowd began to walk away.

"Your precious Stella was originally some trash I found in the prairie, and sold to Nova de Alkirk!" Cyanide announced. Standing up, holding herself, Stella began to cry. Cyanide simply turned around and walked toward her, making her step backward, step by step. "You can put a sweater on a dog, but it's still a dog. No matter how much you dress up garbage, it's still garbage."

Before Stella could respond, she lost her footing and fell backward into the water. Celsius jumped in after her

"As much as this is all beginning to make sense, I'm afraid I'm going to have to make you pay for being a sadistic prick." Leon growled. The crowd had already mostly dispersed, and he wasn't going to tolerate Cyanide's behavior any longer. Apparently that sentiment was shared among Lemiria and Rex as well. "Flames, heed my call and incinerate my enemy! Begone! Fire Bolt!" With a clap between Leon's hands, flames filled his palms. As he separated his palms apart, the fire ball grew bigger and bigger, and with the speed of lightning was hurled at Cyanide.

Not wasting any time, Lemiria charged forward with her blade, and Leon shot at it with a paralysis beam. Lemiria then lunged forward with her extended blade.

Unfortunately, Cyanide caught Lemiria's blade in his gloved hand, unaffected, and used his other hand to simply flick away the spell. "You foolish, foolish children." He grinned.

"What is with all of these powerful enemies we can't seem to scratch?" Rex whined, though serious.

"I hold no vendetta with you." Cyanide simply tossed Lemiria's blade aside, and began to walk down the steps from the pier Like that, he walked away from Meribia.

"What was that bastard's problem?" Lemiria gritted her teeth. She obviously didn't take a liking to encountering an enemy that she couldn't defeat.

"I think our more pressing matter is finding Stella." Leon's pride was also hurt, so he changed the subject.

* * *

Ashore, Stella coughed for air. Celsius shook itself off, and simply meowed as it licked Stella's hand. "You dragged me to shore...? How unusual for a cat..." Stella thought aloud. Stella felt numb. It was difficult to process everything that had just happened.

"We were looking for you." Lemiria spoke, shaking Stella out of her thoughts. "That man left."

"Thanks, Lemiria." Stella attempted to wring out water from what was left of her clothes, until Leon came up from behind Lemiria and covered Stella in a cloak.

"You don't have to explain." Leon simply stated. "You're still Stella to us."

Rex obviously held a different opinion through his body language, wanting to know the details, but refrained from speaking up.

"No, I should tell you." Stella sighed. "... I'm originally from the prairie. I was kidnapped for slavery, and that's where the tattoo on my back of two serpents back to back came from. It's sort of like a branding label to tell where I came from. Nova de Alkirk bought me to free me from slavery, and I was afraid. You know, that he'd just use me as a slave or worse or something like that. It turns out he just... wanted to save me, so he adopted me. Part of that agreement was that Cyanide received a ton of money, and was never to step inside of the gates of Meribia ever again. The amount of money that Nova gave to Cyanide was enough to set Cyanide for life, which is why I was surprised that he was still in the slave trade."

"That bastard." Lemiria gritted her teeth. "That greedy, loathsome bastard..."

"It's no use, now." Stella took a deep breath. "The entire city now knows I'm a fraud. We're going to have to find another way to Theis." Tears ran down her face.

"Don't sell the people so short." Rex stepped up, and motioned behind them. Behind them were all of the townspeople, not with rakes, weapons, nets, and other various tools. "The reason they started leaving during Cyanide's tirade was because they were getting weapons ready, and the rest were trying to find you once you fell into the water."

"But I'm not am Alkirk..." Stella began to object.

"Nonsense." A young man stepped up. "You convinced the council to build the hospital. My father was able to pass in comfort because of the extra funding you geared toward the hospital."

"You fought for merchant rights when trade was being restricted." A shopkeeper also stepped up. "I was afraid I would have to shut down my family's store. Thanks to you, I can still operate for generations to come!"

"The park you asked them to build is one of my favorite places to run around and play!" A little girl chimed in. "You're awesome, Stella!"

The crowd cheered in agreement.

"You'll always be an Alkirk to this town. Perhaps even better than that." Leon placed his hand on Stella's shoulder. "You can't choose who you're born as, but you can choose who you'll live to become."

"I...I..." Stella stuttered, before finally breaking down into tears.

* * *

While the boat ride may have been delayed, it still happened. Stella managed to calm down, and the group was finally headed towards Theis.

It was still a bit difficult to digest everything that was going on, especially since Stella felt like she betrayed her group by keeping such a big secret from them. Leon had been nice to her, and Lemiria never brought up her name… and Rex, well, Rex was just beginning to look up to her. Looking over the railing on starboard, Stella leaned against it and allowed her hair to be tossed around by the sea breeze.

She felt a heavy blanket drape over her shoulders. Turning around, she saw Lemiria.

"You said it yourself that it's going to be cold up here." Lemiria spoke, taking a position next to Stella on the railing. "I don't want you to get sick, all right?"

"I know that Rex is at portside hurling over the railing, with Celsius keeping him company." Stella tittered, finally smiling a bit. "Thanks for the blanket, Lemiria."

"We can't do much if our healer's down for the count." Lemiria rationalized.

"You're so sweet." Stella teased, noticing Lemiria almost blushing. As close to blushing as possible, anyway. "In any case, I suppose the next time you get injured, I'll give you an extra-special litany, all right?"

"If only there was some way to use a blade extension with a litany… that would be something." Lemiria thought aloud.

"I'll practice that with you later, if it'll sate your curiosity." Stella turned around with her elbows on the railing. "This is kind of fun. We never get some girl talk, the two of us, right?"

"I suppose it must be difficult to think of me as a woman." Lemiria sighed. "I'm nothing like my ancestors, after all." She wasn't an amazing hero like Lemia, or refined and regal as Mia, or a financial wizard like Lemina, or vcalm and composed against all odds like Miralda … Sometimes, Lemiria doubted that she was ever even an Ausa.

"… Being viewed as nothing but a piece of meat is worse." Stella sighed. It was refreshing being able to finally say something like that, something true about herself. "The prairie… my family was brutalized, and I was stolen away. Cyanide is such a monster… how many other children has he done this to? I was supposed to be the last, but that greedy bastard…!" Stella slammed her fist against the railing, her voice cracking. A tear slid down her cheek.

"I'm no good at this sort of thing." Lemiria commented. "But that Cyanide is a jerk. So the next time I run into him, I'll run him through, all right? When I get back to Vane, I'll make sure he'll never be able to step foot near that city… and trust me. If I could, I would go into the Silver Spira and pull the trigger myself."

"Thanks, Lemiria." Stella smiled, wiping her tears away.

After a second of silence, Lemiria looked off to the side. "You can't seem to quit your eavesdropping habits, can you?"

"Caught." Leon stepped out from his hiding place behind a crate, with his hands up in the air. "I swear I wasn't purposely eavesdropping on you, though. I just wanted to make sure you two were all right."

"Because if something bad happens to me, so does your chances at being the Magic Guild Premier?" Lemiria lifted an eyebrow.

"I've stopped caring about that a long time ago." Leon also rested on the railing, next to Lemiria. "Actually, it's more accurate to say I've never cared about that in the first place."

"Then why come along on this journey?" Stella asked, nudging up against him.

"Why wouldn't I want to go out on a journey with 1.5 beautiful ladies?" Leon grinned.

"… for a second there, I thought you had a heart." Lemiria crossed her arms, and turned away. She was tired of his constant jabs at her femininity.

"You know, with an attitude like that you'll end up with negative women." Stella reprimanded Leon.

"Would that mean… I'd get guys instead?" Leon tilted his head, confused.

"This has to be the most inane chatter I've ever witnessed. And I've witnessed a lot."

Turning to see where the voice came from, Lemiria and the others were surprised to see a young adult with white hair with a brown streak down the middle. Lemiria was unimpressed. "Look, just leave. None of us are in the mood."

"You don't recognize me?" The young man crossed his arms.

"That hairstyle is the result of some really bad fashion sense." Stella teased. "I didn't know that you were able to change the age of your human appearance, Nall."

"Nall? Might want to ease up on the face lifts." Leon commented.

"What are you doing here, Nall?" Lemiria's expression was solemn. "The Blue Dragon was killed by some freak named Fairen Haite, who says he knows the location of your cave."

"That's what I'm here for." Nall said. "I was in Meribia and saw what happened. You're pretty gutsy, Stella." He winked at her. "I'm going to give you the White Dragon's Blessing, but I can't do that unless I get back to that cave. Dragon Caves are exceptionally difficult to find, and I'll lay low until you guys get there."

"That… seemed a bit easy compared to last time." Leon shrugged. "I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, though."

"It's not over yet." Lemiria continued. "We still need to find the Black Dragon, which we have no lead on, and even then, those red-skinned freaks… are they the threat Myriel was talking about?"

"Focus on one thing at a time for now, all right?" Nall patted Lemiria on the shoulder. "If you chase after two rabbits, you wind up with none, after all." With that, Nall reverted back to his flying cat form, and headed off in the direction of the White Dragon Cave.

"I hate hunting metaphors." Lemiria rubbed her temples.


	7. Chapter Six

"And here we are in Theis!" Leon grinned. "Discovered a few hundred years ago when archeologists found Dyne's Monument, and erected this town in honor of the home of the last two Dragonmasters to serve the Goddess Althena!" Leon explained.

"That's nice. I take it you've read the travel brochure?" Stella asked, her heels clicking on the wood of the pier.

Rex just didn't seem to care, staggering from the boat and sitting down on solid ground once again. Seasickness... Rex had never experienced it before, and he hated it. He once again hurled over the pier.

"I read a lot of history books." Leon explained simply, shrugging his shoulders.

"I see... since the ancient town of Burg was once around here, as evidenced by Dyne's Monument. That means that it's also near the White Dragon Cave as told in the legends." Lemiria mused aloud. Celsius jumped from her arms and decided to go roaming about. "Good work, Leon."

"I guess that bit of information slipped through the cracks in Vane's attempt to keep the Dragon Cave locations a secret. Then again, if even Majesty Miralda the Guildmaster didn't know where they were, I take it that it's a rather messy system at the very least." Stella added.

"I'm going to go visit Dyne's Monument." Lemiria said. "We can rest in town for a bit and gather information before we start looking for any caves." Lemiria's breath could be clearly seen in the frigid weather of the island, and the others simply nodded.

"I may as well go with you, after we drop Rex off at the hotel." Leon agreed. "The poor guy's really suffering.

Another hurl could be heard from the pier.

"I'm going to look around for a bit." Stella responded. "We'll meet in the tavern like usual, I take it?"

Everyone nodded.

* * *

Stella found the town of Theis to be a refreshing difference from the areas the group has visited previously, though her powers of attraction were apparently hindered by her heavy clothing. While it wouldn't help her get free drinks at the tavern, she knew her health came first; after all, you couldn't flaunt what you've got if what you got wasn't in tip top shape. After finding nothing of interest regarding local trinkets or souvenirs, Stella decided to head over to the tavern a bit early. She didn't know Lemiria too well, so Stella thought that Lemiria would probably spend a while at Dyne's Monument. Plus, it was probably a good thing to give her and Leon time alone together, given how much they fought, it might give them a reason or two to stop fighting so damn much. Then again, good friends always did fight, or so Stella was told at one time.

Noticing a seat near the fireplace, Stella was pleasantly surprised to find the blue-haired young man who helped their party in the past on more than one occasion to be sitting by the fire. He was shivering, so Stella took her own cloak and draped it across his shoulders. "How about I get you some hot chocolate, on me?" She smiled sweetly, taking a seat next to him. He was wearing the same clothes (or rather, rags) as usual, though Stella knew not to ask any questions.

"Thank you, but... I can't pay you back." He simply sighed.

"You already did." Stella said. "You were the one who dove into the sea at Meribia to save me after I fell in, weren't you?" The blue haired man looked at her. "I know. You weren't there when I came to, but I remember feeling your presence... your aura was there, getting me back to shore. So, thank you."

The blue-haired man wasn't entirely certain how to respond. His hot chocolate order arrived, and he took a sip of it.

"What is your name, anyway?" Stella asked, wondering. "We've never asked you, come to think of it."

"I don't have one." He shook his head.

Stella thought that he must have been an orphan, traveling the world, perhaps. Giving him a slight hug, she wasn't certain how to respond to that. "Well, why not become my little brother? The Governor's Manor in Meribia is a little stuffy, but you can get used to it. Plus, having someone to come home to wouldn't be such a bad feeling, would it?" She tilted her head. "Tell me, why don't you give it some time and a thought? In the meantime, think of a name you like. You can't really be 'Hey You de Alkirk', right?" She said.

"You're really nice," he simply responded, with a soft smile.

"There we go! A smile!" Stella cheered. "I'm traveling with someone who also hardly smiles. Life's too short, you know? You need to be able to enjoy a few things before it's too late. At least, that's what I think. Even if you don't have happy memories, you're free to at least make new happy memories." This young man reminded Stella of herself in a couple of ways. The least she could do, she thought, was to help even one more person in this world.

* * *

"So, this is Dyne's Monument..." Lemiria gazed on the small tourist shrine made in honor of the monument. It wasn't as overwhelming as the sense of reverence as when she encountered the Red Dragon, but it was still substantial. The Dragonmaster's blade, Althena's Sword, was still stuck in front of the monument, with people believing that Dragonmaster Alex placed it there out of respect after his journey was complete, the blade not being touched ever since. Well, touched, yes. Removed? All current efforts ended up futile, anyway.

"I know you want to try removing it." Leon crossed his arms. "You are so transparent, Lemiria."

Lemiria shook her head. "I haven't earned the right to, yet." She simply responded. "I only have Ruby's blessing. Only when I've received the blessing of all four dragons would I even think of trying to liberate this blade from its resting place." Lemiria sighed. "The footsteps I'm attempting to follow... is it in vanity?"

Leon shrugged. "You couldn't become the Guildmaster, and you can't become a Dragonmaster. Both things are due to circumstances you have no control over. What's so bad about being yourself?"

"I know I'm meant for something great." Lemiria simply stated. Whether she was trying to convince Leon or convince herself, though... she wasn't entirely certain. "Do you have any idea what it's like to be the hope of an entire legacy, and failing at it... without even trying? I can't wield magic. I don't know why the Goddess cursed me like this, but I can't." She gritted her teeth and leaned against the wall of the shrine gate pole.

"Even if you could, I don't think your attitude would've changed drastically, quite honestly." Leon stated. "Everyone has struggles. Do you think the legendary Majesties Lemia, Mia, and Lemina had it easy? I'm sure they had their fair share of trials. It couldn't have been easy for Majesty Lemia to be betrayed by one of the men she trusted most. It couldn't have been easy for Majesty Mia to use the Silver Spira and have to deal with the Fall of Vane. It couldn't have been easy for Majesty Lemina to fight against the city of Neo-Vane and open the original Magic Guild to all, once she realized she was working against Majesty Mia's wishes by discriminating against non-magic users. These Majesties of the Ausa clan have been revered as historical and legendary figures not in spite of, but because of their volition to surpass and overcome their tribulations. You're going to become a legend, Lemiria. After all, the end of one adventure is the beginning of the next. History becomes legend, and dreams become reality."

"You're the last person I would have expected to get a pep talk from." Lemiria responded.

"You're also the last one I would have expected to open up to me." Leon grinned.

* * *

Lemiria should have known better than to be surprised, but her eyebrows still wrinkled at the sight of Glenn when she and Leon returned to the tavern. Stella and Rex were sitting down as well. Myriel was with them as well, on the other side of the table. The blue-haired young man already bid farewell to Stella, giving her back her cloak. "We were the only boat to Theis in the last few days." Lemiria crossed her arms. "How the Hell do you get from place to place so quickly?" She dug her finger into Glenn's chest, demanding an answer.

Gently pushing her finger away, Glenn only smirked. "It's rude to point, Lemiria. And let's not sweat the minor details."

"Lemiria, we have new details regarding those odd energy signatures." Myriel gave Lemiria a concerned look. "That's exactly why we're here."

"They call themselves the Scarlet Star Army." Glenn simply stated, as they all sat down. Leon lifted an eyebrow.

"It would explain their skin tone." Stella commented. "And here I thought they were just really badly sunburned."

"That rather colorful brute we met in Zanza Pass was a tipoff, yes." Glenn nodded. "Their red skin, their odd body markings, and their overall rather manic behavioral patterns, it seems."

"You mean they're all crazy?" Rex dumped his face into the book he was reading. "Don't tell me they're all incredibly strong, too!"

"That we don't know, but they're obviously very aggressive." Myriel's tone was very concerned. "We've traced their energy signatures in the Frontier. The Frontier has been virtually uninhabited for ages, so it's no wonder we haven't thought to look there."

"Virtually uninhabited, ever since Phacia of the Vile Tribe took her people and integrated into Lunar." Lemiria added. "Any traces of remnants of the Vile Tribe should have dispersed a long time ago."

"Some of them still hold a grudge against Althena, even though they are no longer banished to the Frontier." Leon solemnly commented.

Rex took his head out of his book, and glanced at Leon.

"In any case, the signal appears to be growing on this edge of the Frontier." Glenn stated.

"No..." Lemiria had a dawning realization. "Nall's taking a huge risk by being here!" She turned to her companions. If the Scarlet Star Army was near the White Dragon Cave, then Nall was in danger by returning to his cave. "We need to go!"

* * *

Finding the White Dragon Cave wasn't too difficult; trekking through the snow fields was far more so. Luckily, given that snow melts, Leon was able to use his fire spell arts to melt some of the more troublesome ice and use ground spell arts to thicken the road so that the melted water didn't turn into slippery ice. As extra insurance, Rex quickly invented special snow boots for the group.

Lemiria held Celsius close, as the cat was freezing. While she knew Celsius could take care of itself, but she still didn't feel comfortable leaving it freezing at town considering that the tavern master quickly told her that animals were not allowed inside.

"Beyond this group of trees, I feel it." Stella announced, "It's an aura similar to the Red Dragon Cave and the Blue Dragon Cave."

"Wait... that's..." Lemiria held an arm out in front of the group. Somebody was coming through the clearing in the forest.

"Councilwoman Amber Lutice." Leon definitely recognized her. Not to mention that the gaudy robes that the Council members of Vane wore were unmistakable as well. "What a pleasant surprise." Leon wasn't entirely certain what to think of her being there.

"Lady Lemiria." Amber bowed to Lemiria. "Master Leon." Amber then bowed to Leon and the others. After that, she didn't even glance at Rex or Stella. "How fortunate to run into you here. I was on a field mission to this island, and took a gander about. According to the latest progress report from when you last visited Vane, I assume you're here to meet with the White Dragon?"

"We're just looking around for now." Stella lied. Something about Amber rubbed her the wrong way, ever since they were sent off with Lemiria in the beginning of their journey. This only cemented it.

"Councilwoman Amber, I had no idea that you were also on a field mission. Given... various... state of things in Vane at the moment, I would have thought you to stay there to keep things running smoothly." Leon's eyes narrowed.

"Indeed, I should be heading back now." Amber gave a slight smile, as she bowed once again. Without another word, she left toward Theis.

"I find that lady seriously creepy." Rex finally broke the silence, as everyone stood there.

"That's of no consequence as of right now." Leon assured him. "Let's go and meet Nall."

Lemiria and Stella nodded, and they headed in.

* * *

"Be on your guard, everyone." Lemiria warned, "There's no telling if Fairen or some other Scarlet Star Army person is in here." The White Dragon Cave was full of ice and ice-based creatures, which were both taken care of with relative ease with Leon's fire spells.

"This Cave looks like it hasn't been touched in ages." Stella observed. "It's possible that we're the first ones here since two thousand years ago."

"That would be nice, wouldn't it?" Leon grinned. "I'm fairly certain it's been a thousand years, though, due to the War of Pentagulia. If the Dragons' powers were harnessed then, it's a safe bet to assume they had to be met in their respective caves."

"Right, you're the history buff." Stella teased.

"I think the inner sanctum is in there." Rex pointed. The cave was slightly warmer than outside; if anything, there was no chilly wind to bother them. Stepping inside the chamber, Lemiria and the others were amazed at the crystalline ice sculptures present.

"These are amazing." Rex took a look at them. "They're... people? Do you think they're people who've tried to get Nall's blessing and failed?" Rex's teeth began to chatter.

"He's a hard-ass, but I don't think he'd go that far." Stella put her hand on Rex's shoulder.

"These two look familiar..." Leon pointed at two of them. "This one... is it Lemiria?"

The resemblance was striking, but there were subtle differences. "No... this one is Majesty Mia Ausa... and this one! It's Nash Testadurra Telka." Lemiria confirmed. "Portraits from the time are rather stylized, but I recognize them. They're my ancestors..." It was rather amazing at the resemblance between Mia and Lemiria. Lemiria was a bit taller, but...

"So all of these must be..." The gears inside of Rex's head began to turn.

"That's right. The Five Heroes who fought against the Magic Emperor." The group turned to see Nall in his young human form. "They all passed a long time ago, but I remember each and everyone one of them like it was yesterday. They were my closest friends." He crossed his arms. "It's been nearly two thousand years since they've all passed away. Mia was the last one, living until a hundred and eighty two."

"A hundred and eighty two...?" Lemiria was shocked. "But the Ausa clan curse...!"

"That's because Mia wasn't entirely human." Nall simply explained. "Mia didn't tell her friends this, but on her deathbed, Lemia Ausa revealed to her that Ghaleon was Mia's father. How do you think everybody would have felt if she told them they killed her father?" He knew that at the time, the Council must have known about Mia's father given Vane's traditions, but that information was lost in the sea of time. Lemiria, as Mia's descendant, had the right to know.

"Ghaleon… the Magic Emperor?" Leon's eyes narrowed.

"Despite her ill-fated heritage, Mia used it to her advantage to save Vane from the brink of dissolving into the annals of history. Vane isn't just a memory. It's still alive." Nall looked at the ice sculpture of Mia, then to Lemiria. "The rest of the statues are Alex, Nash, Luna, Jessica, and Kyle. This might be the only way to preserve their memories before another White Dragon one day takes up my mantle..."

Nall stood quiet for a few moments, reliving all of those precious memories. Memories of Reza, Nanza, Iluk, Vane, Meribia, Burg, the Grindery... Kyle and Jessica fighting incessantly, Nash bumbling around Mia, Mia sculpting a Gorgon out of clay at Damon's Spire as her most cherished thing, Luna singing on the boat from Saith to Meribia, defeating Dragonmaster Zoc… those times were so far away, yet he could still recall them as if they only transpired but yesterday.

"You, Lemiria... you're of the Ausa clan. I would know, since I've met more than my fair share of them. I was unsure at first, but I'm now convinced." Nall nodded, making eye contact with Lemiria. "You're ready for my blessing."

"Nall, we came to warn you. A Dragon Slayer from the Scarlet Star named Fairen Haite is coming to kill you." Lemiria stated. "He's the one who killed the Blue Dragon. It's dangerous to be here, since he seems to be able to sniff out the Dragon Caves. "

"I'm not worried about that." Nall shook his head. "The Scarlet Star is a threat. It's far more important for me to give you the White Dragon's blessing than it is to cower in fear, when Lunar needs me most."

"If he shows up, we can protect you." Rex's knees were knocking together. Whether it was from the cold or fear was left unsaid.

"We'll certainly give it an effort." Stella smiled.

"We must not waste time." Taking a step toward the pedestal in the center of the chamber, Nall was engulfed in a flash of light, and before Lemiria and the others stood a towering dragon, every bit as awe inspiring as their first dragon.

"Finally, you show yourself!" A roaring voice echoed throughout the room, and at the entrance, as expected, stood the red-skinned hulk Fairen. "Finally, the White Dragon! I shall take my trophy!"

"Everybody, ready yourselves!" Lemiria ordered, and nobody felt the need to disregard her. Unsheathing her sword after letting Celsius down, Lemiria charged at Fairen with Stella by her side, who was brandishing her clawed gloves.

"Leon!" Rex looked at Leon, and both nodded. Rex put down his pack, and pulled a string, releasing several arrows in the sky

"Mirage of flame, heed my call! Fill the skies with rage! Napalm Magnet!" With a stomp of his foot, Leon sent clouds of fire energy toward the arrows, turning them into flaming arrows. As Fairen used his arms to shield himself from the deluge of flaming arrows, Lemiria took the opportunity to strike after Stella kicked Fairen's knees to knock him off of balance.

Noticing a stagger, Lemiria realized that the last time she hit Fairen in Zanza Pass, he was still suffering from the paralysis shock. Though curious as to why, Lemiria wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth, and immediately took the opening. Slashing upward, Stella let Lemiria used her hands to step up delivering a giant gash on Fairen's side.

"Good one, Lemiria!" Rex pumped his arm.

Unfortunately, while that wound must have smarted, Fairen didn't do as much as flinch, as he grabbed a punch from Stella and the blade from Lemiria, and once again tossed them like rag dolls to the other end of the cavern. Grinning maniacally, Fairen glared at the party who gritted their teeth, as Leon ran to help the two women.

"I was ready for the main course…" Fairen shot a glance at Nall, "But I'll play with you a while longer."

"No you won't."

Everybody turned their head to the new voice. On top of a pillar making a grand entrance was the blue-haired young man, with a metal pole as a weapon. Jumping down toward Fairen, he struck him several times quickly, leaving Fairen stunned.

"You… it's impossible!" Fairen gritted his teeth, finally recoiling somewhat in shock. However, it wasn't from physical pain. "I already killed you!"

"… Huh?" The young man tilted his head.

Suddenly, a flash of bright white light was emitted from Nall's forehead, and engulfed the blue-haired young man in a protective shield.

"You're the Blue Dragon!" Fairen sputtered, "I already killed you! I don't leave things unfinished!" He bared his teeth. "You're going back to that forsaken cave, and wait there until I kill you!" In a rage, he swung at the young man, but the young man blocked with his staff, and the White Dragon's protective light pushed Fairen back.

"Leave my friends alone!" The young man shouted.

"Hmph… I'll see you back at the Blue Dragon Cave, dragon, where I'll kill you." Fairen sneered. Despite his attempt to seem tough, he left the chamber quickly.

"You…" Stella approached the young man, already taking the diversion to heal Lemiria and herself with a litany. "Thanks for saving us, but… you're the Blue Dragon?"

"No." Nall revealed, his voice booming throughout the cavern.

"Wait, Celsius is gone…" Lemiria observed.

"No, I'm right here."

Lemiria turned to the young man. "What…?"

"I am also the cat you call Celsius." Celsius explained. He put down the pole he was using as a weapon.

"None of us could put two and two together?" Rex lifted an eyebrow.

"I'd like to assume we were busy with other mysteries." Leon bopped Rex on the head.

"You're not a dragon?" Stella tilted her head. "It would have completed our ensemble."

"Celsius is a magical being, yes, but he is not a dragon." Nall explained.

"… I was a magical experiment in Vane." Celsius nodded, taking out his collar tag. "What you saw, Lemiria, was my ID: '5n1}73]'. Upside down it looked like a stylized form of 'CELSIUS'." He explained. "I originally joined your group to get away from those bandits you chased off, who were chasing after me."

"An experiment…?" Leon ruminated aloud. "One of Vane's ugly underground secrets. Those thugs you're talking about probably recognized Lemiria and tried not to make any scenes, since even the Guildmaster has been blind to these underground happenings. I haven't heard of a cat turning into a human being, though…"

"I believe that they were attempting to create an artificial dragon." Nall stated.

"Artificial dragon…?" Rex stammered. "That's magitechnology! That's… that's bad!"

"Aside from the fact that I'm going to be getting my mother to crack down on these unlawful activities when I get back," Lemiria stated, "I don't care whether you're a dragon or not, Celsius; you're our ally." It was admittedly a bit odd with this revelation, and a lot to take in all at once. But one thing was for sure, Lemiria and the others didn't look down on Celsius.

"Do you remember anything about your past, Celsius?" Stella inquired.

Celsius shook his head. "No… I don't even remember how I can change from a human to a cat." He admitted. "The experiments may have done something to my memories."

"That puts us back on square one." Leon shook his head. "Why don't we get Nall's blessing on Lemiria… pardon me for a second," Leon chuckled a bit to the side, before returning to a more serious tone. "… and then return to trying to find the Black Dragon."

"I don't think we have any objections." Lemiria nodded.

"Halfway there." Stella gave everyone a thumbs up. "You know I'm in for the long haul."

"I've already invented a lot of stuff by being with you guys." Rex agreed. "I'm coming along so I can continue building lots of helpful machines!"

Nall then bathed the entire room in white light once again, all of it focusing in on Lemiria. It felt warm to the touch, and lit up her entire body and mind.

"I give to you the White Dragon Wings." He announced, with the magical tool descending and floating in front of Lemiria. "It will allow you to instantaneously transport yourselves to anywhere you have already been."

"Amazing…" Rex stood, wide-eyed. "I wonder if I could create something like that…"

As the group of four stood in front of Nall, Lemiria turned to Celsius. "Aren't you coming along?"

"Is it… all right?" Celsius asked, unable to move forward.

"Of course it is!" Leon clapped his hands together. "Sure, you're a bit heavier to carry around now, but we're willing to keep you around."

"Your swimming is amazing! You totally have to help me make equipment that allows you to dive underwater!" Rex beamed.

"I promise I'd take you on as my little brother." Stella reassured him. "That offer is still on the table. Rather difficult to uphold if you turn into an icicle being here, though."

Lemiria held out her hand toward Celsius, extending it as if for him to take it. "You're not a pet to me, but you're a friend. I've made a few friends on this journey I haven't expected. But I have several times more friends than I have ever had, before this journey. You already know that I'm not too good at this sort of thing… so please, spare me the headache and just come on."

Celsius stepped forward, and took her hand. He smiled.

"Let's do this." Lemiria smiled, determined.


	8. Chapter Seven

When the light faded, the group found itself in the prairie.

"If this is where Nall sent us, there must be a reason for it." Stella concurred. "Given that this is the prairie, we're in the southern hemisphere of Lunar. It would make sense for the White and Black Dragons to govern opposing poles."

"It might also have to do with the distribution of certain magical energies." Leon added "Rex would be able to explain magnetic poles better than I, but it's a similar theory. It's been proposed that Vane was able to float in the past by riding up on the magical waves that gathered in the center of Lunar."

"That would definitely make sense." Rex nodded. "We've also discovered materials in Vane which don't naturally exist anywhere else on Lunar. At first I thought it was evidence of the fact that Vane isn't even from Lunar in the first place, but before I was reluctant to believe that we really came from the Blue Moon. After this journey, however, I'm willing to believe it just a bit more..."

"I see." Lemiria thought on this information. "That's good and all, but our main priority right now is finding the Black Dragon. Stella, you can sense auras, correct? If we encountered the Black Dragon in human form sometime during our journey, you would have noticed that its aura would have been similar to Nall and Ruby, right?"

Stella nodded. "I was keeping an eye out for it. I thought there might have been some differences, which is why I didn't think Celsius was a dragon at first. Which we now know makes sense because of what Nall told us." She explained. "Nobody we've encountered has an aura similar to Nall or Ruby, unfortunately."

"Then again," Celsius commented, "It's entirely possible that Nall and Ruby are exceptions rather than the rule and dragons don't just walk around with humans. The Blue Dragon must have been dwelling in that cave rather consistently for Fairen to be able to find it. He didn't attack Nall until he went into his cave and took on his dragon form."

"Speaking of Fairen," Lemiria mused, "What information do we know about the Scarlet Star Army? I noticed that Fairen was still feeling the effects of the paralysis strike we gave him at Zanza Pass when we encountered him in the White Dragon Cave. Does the Scarlet Star not having healing arts?"

"It's possible." Stella answered. "The only reason we have healing arts is because of our litanies to Althena. Even the Vile Tribe, when banished to the Frontier, still had to pray to Althena for healing. Considering the Scarlet Star Army's rather aggressive behavior, I don't think they have a loving Goddess as the cornerstone of their world view. "

"Considering we've only met one of Fairen, I hope that he's the exception rather than the rule." Leon nodded. "Members of the Scarlet Star stand out like a hideous zit; they all have red skin and tattoos. Their tattoos are distinctive, and are unlike the tattoos of the Vile Tribe."

"Thank you so much for the rather colorful and vivid mental imagery." Lemiria pressed her fingers against her forehead.

"Say... do you think maybe the Scarlet Star Army might have already infiltrated Vane?" Rex asked aloud.

Everybody stared at him.

"I'm just saying..." Rex tried to explain, "The Ramus Conglomerate already knows the risks of magitechnology, which is why we openly don't pursue it. Vane's council openly doesn't pursue it either because of the traditional view that magic comes from people, not from machines. If the underground activities in Vane that created Celsius are any indication, it could be that Fairen isn't a typical Scarlet Star Army thug. It could be that their head honchos have already infiltrated Vane and are working on magitechnology to strengthen themselves."

"Things are worse than I had feared." Lemiria bit her lower lip.

"There's a tribal settlement over there." Stella commented, after a moment of silence. She motioned that it wasn't too far away. "Let's rest there for a while and try to gather our strength. I doubt that the Black Dragon Cave is going to be any easier than what we've faced thus far."

* * *

"Okay, that's enough!" Lemiria slammed her fist against the table, glaring at him. "I don't care about anything you have to say until you tell me how the Hell you can get to the prairie all the way from Theis in less than a day!" She growled at Glenn, who stood before her as nonchalantly as he always does. "It's not normal!"

"That's an understatement." Leon took a sip of tea.

Glenn simply smiled as he shrugged. That was the last straw, and Lemiria punched him in the face; while his head turned from the impact, his body stood steady

"I haven't seen her pissed off this much even at Leon." Stella also took a sip of her tea.

"I'm glad I never crossed her." Rex sat behind Stella. He was cowering, though he wouldn't admit it.

Rubbing his cheek, Glenn didn't stop smiling. "You know that it's a fairly serious offense to assault a Vane Councilman?"

"I don't give a damn about any of that." Lemiria held him by the collar. She easily matched his height. "We came down here because of the White Dragon. What's your excuse? I know you're the Master of Illusion Arts, but illusions are illusions. They don't transport you halfway across Lunar instantaneously."

"Maybe not instantaneously, but a few hours of layover really puts a toll on this old man's back."

"Is this a game to you?" Lemiria slammed Glenn against the table. "If you're our enemy, I'm going to treat you like one!"

"Lemiria, please, stop." Celsius touched Lemiria's shoulder, causing her to calm down for a moment.

Stella's eyes narrowed. Something wasn't right.

"Everything will make sense if you head toward the mountain range west of here." Glenn stated, his smile turning into a solemn expression. "You're lucky projections can't feel pain."

"Projections...?" Leon realized, "Projections of this caliber take an amazing amount of magic. Even if you're a practitioner of Telos spell arts, some of the most ancient arts known to Vane, it's not humanly possible...! "

"It will all make sense." Glenn smirked, tapping his head with his finger. "Figure things out for yourself. It's no fun having things set before you on a silver platter." With that, the projection faded and vanished.

"That apparition..." Stella turned to her friends. "Well, it explains a lot."

"Only, it really doesn't..." Leon crossed his arms. Even he was getting annoyed, which was rare.

"The only thing we can do is move forward." Celsius commented. "Let's head toward the mountain range to the west."

Unfortunately, as if right on cue, a large explosion was heard from the other side of the settlement. "This is getting old." Lemiria sighed, rubbing her temples.

* * *

The scene was a horrific one.

Flames arose and the settlement was being pillaged, not for its debatable cultural treasures, but for people. "Slave traders...!" Stella gritted her teeth. The memories were all too clear regarding this sort of heinous crime. "This style... he's here." Sure enough, commanding the raiders was none other than Cyanide. "Everyone, evacuate the villagers and get everyone to a safe place. I'm going to handle this."

"But-" Rex protested.

"It's fine." Lemiria nodded. "If you need us, let out a holler." Lemiria simply gave Stella a smile, which she returned.

With the rest of the party attending to evacuation, Stella approached Cyanide.

"Oh, so the piece of meat has returned?" Cyanide smirked. He put away his monocle.

"I'm not a piece of meat, and I'm not the little girl you terrorized any longer." Stella took on a fighting stance, glaring at Cyanide. "If you won't stop this of your own accord, I'll have to stop you myself." Finishing putting on her clawed gloves, Stella focused.

With a wave of his hand, Cyanide's henchmen gathered in front of him. With a snap of his fingers, they charged toward Stella. Ducking as they crowded her, Stella lifted herself with her hands into a handstand, and extended her legs and spun around, kicking all of them in their torsos and heads. Giving one final push from the ground, Stella leapt up into the air and landed on a henchman's head, and using him as a base she continued kicking all of Cyanide's henchmen in the faces, her heels digging into their eye sockets. One final leap, she landed on the ground a few yards away from Cyanide, his underlings defeated.

"You were nothing but trash. It's just that with time, you're trash who grew resilience." Cyanide smirked. Extending his cane, Cyanide conceded and gave up a fighting stance. "Charge. You're not going to win."

Being wary of Cyanide, Stella's hands were shaking. From fear or anticipation or excitement, she couldn't tell, or if it were a mix of all three. Shaking out her hands before making fists once again, Stella charged at Cyanide. "Hrrraaaaaaah!" Opening with two quick jabs from her left fist, Cyanide managed to block them with his cane and dodged her follow up right hook, causing her to go for kneeing him in the torso, which finally got in a hit. As Cyanide recoiled just a bit, Stella stepped up on his cane and back flipped, kicking Cyanide in the face.

However, as she was still in midair, Cyanide smirked as he grabbed her leg and slammed her into the ground. Stella managed to roll out of the way before Cyanide could stab her with his cane, and mustered enough adrenaline to jump up into the air and strike at Cyanide's flank, ripping off his coat and shirt. What she saw surprised her, to say the least. Stepping back as blood dripped down his tattered coat, Cyanide disposed of her coat and shirt, revealing several tattoos. Tattoos she also saw on Fairen.

"You... you're from the Scarlet Star?" Stella was shocked.

"Heheheheheh... not quite." Cyanide smirked, resuming his stance. "These tattoos are proof of the contract I share with those from the Scarlet Star."

"Contract...?"

"That if I sell them as many Lunarians as I can to them as slaves and test subjects, I'll come out on top and be considered one of them." Cyanide grinned, revealing his fangs.

"You monster...!" Stella charged at him once again blind with rage, but as a batter hitting a home run, Cyanide struck Stella with his cane, sending her flying into a tent.

"You're not even trying anymore." Cyanide yawned, cracking his neck. "You're just a lost piece of garbage that drifted its way to Meribia, and poses as an Alkirk. You weren't worth the several hundreds of thousands of silver that foolish man gave me for you. He was a foolish man and the Alkirk line ends with him."

"No..." Stella coughed, blood dripping from the side of her lips. "You're so pitiful. You can't see anything without a silver tag on it, including life." Staggering herself up, Stella coughed once again and used a tent pole for support. "I'm going to make sure you never hurt anybody else ever again!"

"Feel free to try, although you'll fail."

Stella knew Cyanide was strong. All of those beatings she took from him as a child made her tremble whenever she turned off the lights. He was the first and last thing she was afraid of, and she wasn't going to just let him beat her. He was bigger and stronger than her, but he was heartless. Nobody who was heartless deserved a happy ending. At least, that's what she kept on telling herself to have it all make sense.

Chanting a litany, Stella's body glowed with holy light as her wounds healed and she resumed her fighting stance. The litany was still in effect as her body continued to be bathed in light, and she charged toward Cyanide with all of her might. She opened with a sweeping kick which Cyanide jumped over, exactly as she planned. With Cyanide's footing lost, Stella changed her kick's trajectory and used her arms to lift herself up to deliver an upward kick, causing Cyanide to be spun into the air. Being juggled, before Cyanide could react, Stella pushed against the ground with her legs and delivered several fist strikes at Cyanide. Her fists glowing, Stella charged her final strike. "Hidden Arts! Litany Dance Rapture!" All of the energy that Stella was aglow with focused on her right fist, and she delivered a final blow, beams of light piercing Cyanide's body.

Landing gracefully on the ground, Stella looked behind her as Cyanide unceremoniously collapsed to the floor and spewed up blood.

Standing over him, Stella knew he was losing too much blood. He would only stay conscious for another few minutes, and probably bleed out after that.

"If you live, you're only going to hurt countless more people." Stella said, solemnly.

"Even a practitioner of the litany arts is capable of feeling no mercy." Cyanide smiled between stuttered breathing. "I sold away a perfectly good cold-blooded killer..."

Stella wasn't sure what to say to that.

"Your justice..."

"It's not justice." Stella shook her head. "I know what I've enacted is cold, hard revenge. And I'm willing to live with that." She couldn't even cry. "You've nobody to blame but yourself, Cyanide."

With that, Stella noticed that Cyanide stopped breathing. He was dead.

"Stella!" Lemiria and Leon ran to her. Lemiria took a glance, and knew what had transpired. "You had no choice."

"Even with litanies, it's impossible to restore lost blood." Leon agreed.

". . Thanks, you two."

* * *

"This is the Black Dragon Cave." Stella confirmed.

"Does that mean that Glenn's the Black Dragon?" Lemiria thought aloud. "But Stella, you said that-"

Stella shook her head. "If he was giving off projections, I wouldn't have noticed his aura." She responded. "Back at the settlement, I noticed an odd change in his aura. He's a highly skilled illusionist."

"Before we go..." Rex pulled out a bo staff, "Celsius, take this, as a gift from me. I just finished putting the finishing touches on it. If anything, it should work better than that metal pipe you're using."

"Thank you." Celsius gratefully accepted Rex's gift.

"Let's do this." Leon nodded.

The group walked in and the Black Dragon Cave was unlike anything else they've ever encountered before. It held far more mazes and traps than the previous caves combined, but that didn't deter the party. The cave was built much like a fortress, as befitting since many legends of the Dragonmasters say that the Black Dragon Cave was the final obstacle between them and becoming the Guardian of Althena.

"Damn that Glenn." Lemiria struck down a clay monster, leaving it to crumble. "What is he thinking?"

"You can ask him that yourself" Leon spoke. "The summit is right over there." He pointed. The group entered the final chamber, and it was set up much like an outdoor theater stage. The surrounding mountains blocked the light of the Blue Moon from entering, yet there was a spotlight.

In a swirling tower of mist, the illusionist they were seeking revealed himself.

"This is the real thing." Stella said, sensing his aura. It was unlike any of the other times when they encountered him. "Is this where you stayed, manipulating your projections?"

He simply smirked.

"I take it you won't give me your blessing as easily as the others, correct?" Lemiria stepped forward. "What is it that you want, Glenn? Lunar's in danger, and somebody needs to save it."

"What makes you think you're so special?"

Glenn's words struck Lemiria, causing her to step back.

"I admit it's a miracle that you all have made it this far." Glenn stated, pacing about the stage. "However, do you have any idea how many heroes I've seen attempt to walk your path, and not only fail, but succumb to their own weakness?" As he spoke, images were formed in the smoke above him, as a sort of theater. Images of war, strife, hunger, death, and persecution were playing. "The age of heroes is past. Lemiria, should you gain the power of the dragons, what assurance do I have that you won't use our blessings, the pact between us, to possibly take over the world?"

"That's crazy!" Stella stepped up. "Lemiria would never do that!"

After Stella's outburst followed another, only the second one came from a misty projection, standing right next to Stella. That illusion was defending another illusion of a tall hero-like figure, who simply smiled crookedly. After an apparition of Glenn giving the hero figure his blessing, the hero figure turned around and stabbed the person who defended him.

"I can't imagine how many eons you've lived through." Leon stepped up, raising his head. "Not everyone is twisted."

The smoke changed to an apparition of Vane's Magic Premier Ghaleon witnessing Dragonmaster Dyne assisting the Goddess Althena into reincarnating into a human for the very last time. Then, an illusion of Eiphel circles around Ghaleon's mind as Ghaleon recalled his words to him, and then donned the mask of the Magic Emperor.

"Sometimes we may be misguided, and go down the wrong path." Rex took a step forward. Putting his hand on his chest, his face shown determination. "What we do isn't always right, but doing nothing is far worse!"

An image of an air balloon appeared, and a mage calling down lightning to strike it down. The thunder mage thought things were hopeless, and that the only way to save at least the love of his life was to betray his friends. It then cut to a scene of that same mage wearing an odd suit, and being slapped by a woman. That woman was the one person he wished to protect, but ironically enough he didn't even think of her feelings in the matter.

"... If you're an adult, then an adult is nothing more than a child who lost their innocence and their ability to believe in people." Celsius spoke, taking a step toward Glenn. He shook his head. "In that case, I'll never become an adult."

The smoke then cut to several scenes of baby dragons being killed, collapsing in their caves for being unable to take on their mantles.

"Enough of your games!" Lemiria stomped her foot, and instantly all of the illusions disappeared. "Glenn Tesla!"

"If Lemiria were the type to try to take over the world, she'd be really bad at hiding it." Leon smirked, crossing his arms and nodding. He recalled their moment at Dyne's Monument, where Lemiria shone brighter than any star in the sky. She was a pure and honest soul, one who didn't accept compromise in her vision.

"Even if she did, I can't imagine it would be such a terrible place with her in charge." Stella winked. Recalling the boat ride over to Theis, the talk the two of them shared… Stella may not have fully understood Stella, but she didn't pretend to. She was honest, and Stella had to appreciate that. But Lemiria never looked down on Stella, and to Stella, that was more important than anything else.

"Lemiria never ever complained how difficult this journey has been." Rex gave a thumbs up. "None of us knew what was going to go on during this journey, and all of us had different reasons, but we don't regret it at all." This journey had taken them over most of Lunar, and it couldn't have been easy. But Lemiria never lost her fire. If Rex had been on this journey alone, he would have given up after the first few days.

"Our hearts are united." Celsius nodded. "We must save this world, the world that Lemiria wishes to protect. The world we all wish to protect. You've known Lemiria all of her life. Why are you so sure that she's going to turn bad?"

"I've witnessed generation after generation of humans in this world of Lunar." Glenn lowered his head, closing his eyes. "You cannot trust everybody. Those who you believe you've known better than anybody else, once they receive power, they change completely. I should ask you, how are _you_ all so certain that once Lemiria gains the power of the dragons, she won't betray all of you? You were all selected not as people by the Council, but as tools to watch over Lemiria. She could very well have been fooling all of you with an act this entire time; where does your resolve come from?" Kneeling down, Glenn Tesla allowed himself to be engulfed in a mass of black smoke, and when the smoke cleared, before them stood the magnificent Black Dragon in all of its glory. "Then show me, Grelka the Black Dragon, what you are capable of."

As everybody readied their fighting positions, something shocked both sides. On one of the pillars, a familiar figure screamed.

"You weren't there!" Fairen bared his teeth. "You were supposed to be at the Blue Dragon Cave, where I could kill you!"

"What the Hell?" Lemiria wasn't entirely certain what was going on, but this was seriously bad news.

"Wait!" Celsius stood between the party and Fairen. "It's me you want, so come and get me."

"Celsius!" Stella yelled, "It's too dangerous!"

Leon stopped Stella from interfering. "Let him. If he gets into trouble, we're here to help him, right?" He grinned, his teeth glinting.

Without another word, Fairen jumped down from his spot, and Celsius was ready, brandishing the weapon Rex made for him. Fairen brandished a large sword, which Celsius managed to block with his staff. "When you're waving something around like that, you may as well be telling me your moves in advance!" Celsius shouted, pushing Fairen off The look in Fairen's eyes was wild, as if a demon possessed by something. Celsius knew that at least made his moves more unrefined, giving him a fighting chance.

Charging at Celsius again, Fairen attempted to do a downward slash which Celsius dodged, and using his staff as leverage he leapt up into the air and onto Fairen's shoulders, striking his several times with his staff. Enraged, Fairen managed to shake him off, yet that left an opening for Celsius to bend down and strike at Fairen's knees, breaking them.

Screaming in pain, Fairen glared at Celsius, who knocked Fairen's sword away from him as he couldn't stand.

"Why kill dragons?" Celsius demanded, holding Fairen's neck up with his staff.

"Hehehe... you've never killed for sport?" Fairen chuckled, blood dribbling from the corner of his mouth. "Even if I die… that won't change the fact that you're all going to go down with me."

Having heard enough, Celsius snapped Fairen's neck. From Fairen's person fell the Blue Dragon Jewel, which Celsius picked up.

"Where did you learn moves like that?" Lemiria asked, impressed.

"You can't tell?" Leon smirked. "It's a combination of your fighting style and Stella's fighting style. He learned by watching you two."

Lemiria was speechless.

"More importantly than that..." Leon took a look at Grelka, the Black Dragon. They still had to defeat him.

Rex's ears pricked up, and a sudden realization hit him. "... Oh, no, look out, everybody! Duck for cover!" Rex yelled. Everybody began hearing a ticking, and upon further realization, it was coming from Fairen's corpse. Within seconds, a giant explosion could be heard and seen, with the party ducking behind the sanctum walls, a good amount of the chamber collapsed.

"He was a pain in the ass until the very end." Lemiria commented, dryly, dusting off her shoulder.

As the dust settled, though, the group realized they had a much bigger problem to deal with.

"Grelka...!" Celsius' voice cracked, as the party approached the broken dragon, struggling to breathe, trapped underneath immeasurable rubble and shrapnel. Without hesitation, Celsius ran and attempted to use his staff as a way to get a boulder off of him. He slipped, realizing that the dragon's blood was beginning to pool.

"Lemiria... Ausa..." Grelka struggled to speak. His breathing was heavy, unable to compete with the rubble.

"Everyone, help me get this crap off of him!" Lemiria yelled, trying to move a boulder. Everybody nodded and attempted to follow suit.

"It is of no use..." The dragon's voice echoed throughout the chamber.

Halting her movements, Stella stood up. "Hold on, I'll use a litany to heal you...!" Stella prepared, but was interrupted.

"No... I'm a dragon. Due to the properties... of dragons being created... by Althena... litanies have no effect on us..."

"Is there nothing we can do?" Celsius had a tear in his eye. "You're too stubborn to go this way!" He hit the ground with his fist.

"Dammit..." Leon cast his gaze to the floor, frustrated. He noticed that a sharp piece of rubble had jammed its way through the dragon's chest.

"It can't end this way! It can't!" Rex gritted his teeth in denial.

"Before I die... Lemiria..." Once again, a cloud of black mist gathered above the group.

"No! I won't accept it!" Lemiria screamed at the dying dragon. "I haven't earned your blessing!"'

Despite her protests, the mist concentrated into a beam of light and engulfed Lemiria, filling her with the Black Dragon's Blessing.

"A new Black Dragon will be born... there is no need to mourn my death." Grelka's breaths began to become shallower. "Celsius... that jewel. Take it to the Blue Dragon Cave... "

Celsius couldn't respond shivering with grief and rage.

"Relina..." Grelka let go of his final breath, and his body became ash.


	9. Chapter Eight

Using the White Dragon Wings, the party decided that now would be a good time to revisit Vane. As much as Lemiria and Celsius were itching to get to the Blue Dragon Cave, Lemiria at the very least knew that Vane would most likely be upside down given the death of Councilman Glenn Tesla, the final illusionist in the Telka family line spanning over two thousand years of Vane's history. Given the passage of time, the Telka name was warped into the Tesla name. More than that, Lemiria knew that the very balance of Lunar was in disarray given that not only one, but two dragons were down for the count. Nobody questioned Lemiria's decision to return to Vane.

"I wish I could be more overjoyed at your homecoming, Lemiria." Myriel was obviously distraught, that Lemiria could see. Myriel was the first person Lemiria saw right after seeing her mother. "To be honest, even without the news of Master Glenn's passing, things here in Vane have been heading for the worse. I ran into Councilwoman Amber Lutice on the way back to Vane from Theis, and... She was different." Myriel attempted to explain. "Once we got back, she began initiating several reforms and changes to the city which are... well, simply put, bizarre." Given Miralda's inability to lead and Lemiria's absence from Vane, it seemed as though Amber had taken the opportunity to impose her agenda onto the council.

"Tch..." Lemiria knew that Amber was up to no good. Her traveling companions were also there in the room with her and Myriel. Ever since they saw her in front of the White Dragon Cave, there couldn't have been many more bad omens concerning things to come. Lemiria knew that Amber couldn't get far within the cave, otherwise Nall would have said something and the cave would have been that much easier to get through. The only other reason was what she and the others feared... Amber may have been in contact with the Scarlet Star Army.

"Thanks for getting me updated on the current situation." Lemiria sighed. Vane was always a headache, but this certainly took the cake. She didn't want to burst her best friend's brain by telling her the mind-boggling truth behind Glenn Tesla, either. "So Amber's pushing for magitechnology development... shoot. And with Glenn gone, I don't think that the other council members would stand up to her pressure for very long."

"With Auntie Mira's condition deteriorating, she can't make important decisions like vetoing Amber's movements." Myriel continued, "If I could, I would take Glenn's place on the Council given that I was his apprentice, but the process would take too much time. Even so, I tried telling them to wait until you got back, but given that you haven't passed the Guildmaster Ascension Rite..." Myriel turned to face the floor. "In this situation, Amber has far too much power, and nobody's standing up to her."

"Well, nothing good will come out of this if I don't confront her about it." Lemiria's eyes narrowed. "Myriel, be careful. I think that Amber may be in league with the Scarlet Star."

Myriel gasped.

"I don't have definitive proof, but it's definitely on the table." Lemiria took a deep breath. She turned to her companions. "What do you all think?"

"Magitechnology? That's crazy!" Rex exasperated. He had waited for a while before he could finally interject.

"Okay, seriously, what is up with you and magitechnology, anyway?" Leon raised an eyebrow.

"I'm certain he has a good reason." Stella simply smiled at Leon. "After all, he hasn't been wrong about most things so far."

Celsius simply tilted his head. He wasn't entirely certain what was going on.

"Look, most of you know basic magic theory, right?" Rex attempted to explain. "Raw magic permeates this side of Lunar because it's all around us, always existing in one form or another. It's the basic lifeblood of the world, which doesn't reach out to the Frontier. At its most basic form, it lets plants grow and air becomes breathable."

"So, magical energies basically make Lunar habitable." Leon surmised. "That would make sense, considering that legends say we originally came from the Blue Moon."

Rex nodded. "When, for example, Leon casts a spell art, he creates a magic working with algorithms inscribed into them. It obviously takes concentration and specific incantations to make sure that the spell has the desired effect; you can't just wildly throw magic energy around, otherwise it would boomerang back to the caster and they'd self-destruct. That's what's so dangerous about Primal Magic."

"That's the same theory with litanies." Stella nodded. "We use different formulas and incantations, not to mention auras and energies, so that's why you rarely see an offensive magic user also practicing litanies. It's not impossible, just rather difficult."

"But this is the kicker." Rex continued, "The magic energy itself is never used up in a proper spell art. The working a spell caster creates simply transforms the energy into a desired form - if Leon hits an enemy with a Fire Bolt, it hits the enemy and causes damage, hut the energy disperses and exists in another form. If done correctly, magic simply shifts forms, but never diminishes. Some people have mastered energy conversion so well that using magic spell arts against them is useless because they're able to absorb them and throw it right back."

Lemiria absorbed all this. "So, you're saying that magitechnology..."

"Right." Rex confirmed. "Magic workings require an actual person forming them. Machines cannot do that; it's impossible, even after years of research. Magitechnology simply takes in magic and expels it, but since it doesn't undergo a proper conversion process, it just... disappears. So if magitechnology development continues, even just testing will severely diminish Lunar's magical supply!"

"So, spell arts would become ineffective, and in the worst case scenario all life on Lunar ceases to be." Celsius summarized.

"The thing is, this should already be known." Rex was baffled. "Why is Amber pushing for magitechnology development if she knows the consequences?"

"It has to be for the Scarlet Star." Leon ascertained. "If they don't have healing arts, it's possible they just don't have spell arts in general. Their world is probably devoid of magic, so they came to invade thinking that they could just take ours."

If Amber really is in league with the Scarlet Star, she's going to have their tattoos as proof of their contract." Stella commented. "Cyanide had them, so Amber would have them as well."

"It still doesn't explain her motive." Celsius thought aloud.

"We'll have to ask her directly for it, once we confirm her allegiance with the Scarlet Star." Lemiria answered. "I can't believe I've been so blind to her plans...!"

* * *

The sound of coughing echoed throughout the hallways.

"It's not getting any better, is it?" Leon bit his lower lip, helpless to help Noel. "Dammit... she promised to help you!" Leon hit the wall with the side of his fist out of frustration.

"Please, Leon, you mustn't continue to aid her." Noel begged his brother. "I have very little time left, and I don't want you to be doing this."

"Don't talk like that!" Leon reprimanded him.

"Indeed."

Leon and Noel turned to see who the voice came from, and immediately and simultaneously Noel had fear written all over his expression, and Leon anger on his.

"Powder.." Leon gritted his teeth. "What are you doing? You're not supposed to be here! Leave now, or I'll-"

The old man named Powder simply laughed. His skin was red, and his tattoos were obvious from the part of his neck exposed by his collar. Hunched over and using a cane, he eyes peered at Leon and Noel through his bushy eyebrows. "You had no idea that Lady Amber is working with me...? Your efforts are so ironic..."

* * *

"I refuse." Lemiria stated. This was probably the calmest she has ever been in front of the council. As expected, her refusal to accommodate their request was met with much noise.

"If we may ask, Lady Lemiria, why do you refuse to stay here and attend to Vane?" Councilman Welkin asked.

"It's quite simple, really." Lemiria bowed her head in respect. "I have much bigger things than Vane to concern myself with, as of right now." Placing her hand on her chest, she took a deep breath. "The dragons, they're real. Lunar is in danger. In order to save Lunar, I must make a pact with the final dragon, and take the necessary steps to not just save Vane, but save all of Lunar." Lemiria couldn't say that Vane was already succumbing to the Scarlet Star She knew that in order to make sure she couldn't stop them, whoever was on the inside in Vane was attempting to keep her there, rather than allowing her to defeat them. She paid close attention to Amber Lutice.

"That can't be as noble as you make it sound, Lady Lemiria." Amber dryly commented.

"It's not about nobility." Lemiria promptly responded, confidently. "It's not about my responsibility as an Ausa, either. Even if it were, it's in Vane's best interests if Lunar is saved, wouldn't you agree?"

"But-" Welkin began.

Lemiria shook her head. "In my place, I appoint Myriel Deis Telka as acting Guildmaster."

Silence fell over the room.

"You've got to be joking." Amber choked. Lemiria could hear her disbelief, but Lemiria simply smiled.

"These paper works make this an entirely legal move." Lemiria set down several sets of notarized statements. "This is Glenn Tesla's seal. An extensive family tree line investigation reveals that the origin of the Tesla family line began as an off-shoot of the Telka line, and the late Glenn Tesla reverted the Tesla family name back to Telka, given that the Telka line ended some time ago. Also, view this sheet," Lemiria pushed forward another page which had the seal of Ausa, "Myriel Deis was officially adopted by Glenn Tesla before his passing, making her his legal heir. As she is now a Councilmember, I trust that you do not object?"

"Oh, but I do." Amber narrowed her eyes.

"I'm afraid there's nothing that you can do." Lemiria smiled. "This sheet of paper, endorsed by Majesty Miralda Ausa, places her daughter Lemiria Ausa, me, as her proxy in decisions regarding the Council, even should I not be the Guildmaster. I believe that's all that there is to be said regarding the matter."

* * *

"Look, I just finished browbeating the Council." Lemiria explained, rubbing her temples. "Don't make me browbeat you, too, Myriel."

"But, Lemiria...!" Myriel began, but Lemiria raised her hand to stop her.

"I need somebody on the inside that I can trust." Lemiria stated, looking at Myriel. "I can't stay here, Myriel. I need you to, not only to look after my mother, but to make sure that everything doesn't go to Hell."

"That was an incredibly gutsy move on your part." Stella crossed her arms. "It took everyone's efforts to make those papers look like the real thing."

"If the Scarlet Star Army has already infiltrated Vane, I have to play dirty." Lemiria rationalized. "As much as I hate to admit it, just fighting physically and magically won't cut it."

"I finished destroying the printing machines." Rex entered the room, making sure nobody was eavesdropping. "Nobody has physical evidence about those papers, now."

"Good job." Lemiria nodded.

"I'll do my best, Lemiria." Myriel nodded. "I'll work on vetoing the funding of magitechnology. You need to go and meet the final dragon."

Lemiria nodded. She noticed that Leon was being uncharacteristically quiet, as if something was on his mind, but she couldn't exactly place her finger on it...

* * *

"I must say, these White Dragon Wings are certainly convenient." Celsius quipped, earning a chuckle from most of the others. The party found itself at the Blue Dragon Cave.

"Hopefully we can get this done quickly." Lemiria nodded. "The last thing is another distraction."

"Even so, there's no guarantee that I can become the Blue Dragon, is there?" Celsius clutched the blue dragon jewel he took from Fairen. "I wasn't born a dragon, and there might be a baby blue dragon out there somewhere, right?"

Stella placed her hand on Celsius' shoulder, and gave him a gentle smile. "Let's worry about those things if it doesn't happen, all right?" She winked. "Whether or not you can become the Blue Dragon is irrelevant to whether or not you're our friend. All of us would fight to the death for one of our own, including you." Stella glanced at the others. "Besides, we have an Ausa who can't use magic, a Ramus who's skinny unlike the rest of his family, and an Alkirk who isn't an Alkirk by blood. I think you fit in right away."

"I feel left out..." Leon sighed.

"No matter how sarcastic and annoying you are, you're in this for the long haul, too." Lemiria lightly punched his arm. "You're lucky that you're the only one out of all of us who doesn't have to live up to some fancy legacy."

"Tell me about it." Rex held his stomach. "My uncles and aunts eat so bloody quickly that I can't get a morsel, and then they have the audacity to ask why I'm so scrawny! With you guys I can actually get a decent meal in."

"Good thing we're always running around." Lemiria chuckled, pinching Rex's cheek. "If your metabolism ever slows down, you're going to end up like your family."

"Any heavier, and when Celsius here becomes a dragon, you won't be able to ride on his back!" Stella teased.

"Thanks, everyone." Celsius bowed out of respect. "I hope I'm able to help out during this journey as well, as your comrade."

"You've already done more than enough." Lemiria reassured Celsius. "Everyone, let's go."

* * *

"I've got a really bad feeling about this..." Celsius whispered, as the group was outside of the inner sanctum. As they stepped inside cautiously, Celsius' fear wasn't unfounded.

"How the Hell did you get here so quickly?" Lemiria gritted her teeth, Councilmember Amber Lutice before them. Drawing sword, Lemiria noticed that instead of the gaudy robes that Amber usually wore, she was wearing something different. Whatever it was, it exposed the tattoos on her arms and back.

"As we suspected." Stella crossed her arms. "You're in league with the Scarlet Star. You're the one who allowed the Scarlet Star Army to infiltrate Vane and use its resources for itself... and now that Myriel is acting Guildmaster, you have no legal authority." Stella pulled on her gloves. "You're here to stop us, because we stopped you."

''I can't believe that such a respected mage as you would endorse magitechnology!" Rex yelled, "You know how harmful it is to the very ecosystem of Lunar!"

Amber's face never stopped being twisted from the glare she gave the group. "Everything was so perfect until you came along...!"

"Lady Amber, stop this!" Leon stepped forward. "Your grudge is meaningless!"

"Grudge?" Celsius looked at Leon's back.

"You, Lemiria, were always such a little brat, even when you were a pitiful magicless child." Amber's lips twisted into a grin. "My daughter showed so much promise in the Magic Guild, and wound up as your nanny... a thankless job for a thankless impudent child! Being unable to teach you magic, our family suffered so much shame!"

Lemiria took a step back. The nanny who took such good care of her and whose stories of Dragonmasters inspired her... Amber resented her for that?

"I remember that...!" Rex recalled, "That's still no excuse for what you're doing! People are always looking for a scapegoat so they don't have to deal with their own problems! You're no different, blaming Lemiria for everything you're doing! "

"You should all blame Leon, then." Amber laughed.

"Stop it!" Leon screamed.

"Leon...? What does she mean, Leon?" Lemiria stepped toward Leon, and faced him.

"Who do you think insisted that Leon join your group?" Amber said, "Why do you think that the Scarlet Star Army has been one step ahead of you all these times?"

"... Leon, were you leaking our group's activities to Amber?" Stella asked in disbelief

Leon's silence was all the answer they needed.

"I knew you were a bastard, but I never doubted that you were a good person when it came down to it!" Lemiria then proceeded to punched Leon, making him kneel down on the floor.

"You did it all to save your dying brother... but it was all in vain." Amber looked down on Leon. "Both you and Noel are going to die."

"What? " Lemiria stared at Amber.

"Does it have to do with the fact that Leon and Noel are of the Magic Race, with tattoos of the Vile Tribe?" Rex asked. Before anybody could react, Rex lowered his head. "I saw Noel one night. I didn't recognize the ears or the tattoos, but I researched it the last time we were in Vane. The Magic Race... the last one should have been Ghaleon, two thousand years ago."

Leon gritted his teeth. He then stood up, and made for the door. Nobody stopped him.

"Okay, I get it." Lemiria pointed her blade at Amber. "You're mad at me, you think Vane's going down the drain, whatever. What hasn't been explained is why you are helping the Scarlet Star Army destroy Lunar?"

"The Scarlet Star Army will need an accomplished mage, won't they?" Amber smiled. "I can set up my own dynasty, and make a new Vane, all headed by me."

"All this to stroke your own ego..." Celsius readied his weapon. Everybody else followed suit. "It takes time to prepare and execute your incantations. You'll be dead long before you can get a spell out."

Amber simply laughed, and took out her stave.

"No...!" Rex gasped, "That staff!"

"What's wrong, Rex?" Stella asked, "I know it's a bit bulky and gaudy, but that's pretty much par for the course when it comes to staves."

"No, look!" Rex pointed at the tip. "It has a magitechnology clip!"

"Indeed." Amber laughed. "Magitechnology by itself may be dangerous, but when used by a competent mage, it not only allows instantaneous magic with zero casting time, it also amplifies and creates spell arts impossible otherwise!"

"So that's why she's able to cast healing litanies as well as wind spell arts...!" Lemiria bit her lower lip. This was going to be a tough opponent.

Lemiria, Stella, and Celsius all charged at Amber, as Rex put down his bag and began setting up metal rods around the chamber. Amber stabbed her staff into the ground, and instantaneously even without an incantation a spherical barrier formed around her, pushing the three on chargers away simultaneously with wind.

"This is bad." Stella gritted her teeth. "We not only have no clue as to which spells she's going to cast, she's making up new spells as she goes along!"

"We can complain about that later!" Lemiria jumped up several ledges, and began hacking away at the stalactites. Trusting Lemiria, Stella and Celsius continued to charge at Amber, dodging maelstroms of wind spell arts. Finally succeeding, Lemiria loosened the stalactites and they fell down to the ground, toward Amber. Amber, seeing this, immediately used wind blades to scatter the Oncoming death traps, but Lemiria was hiding behind one of them as a blind spot and managed to knock Amber's staff out of the way. "Now, Rex!"

Rex nodded, finished with setting up the poles and wires. Running back to his bag, he pressed a switch. "Hidden Arts! Anti-Spell Arts Decompositioning Field!" The voice activation system then sent waves and waves of energy through the wires and to the poles, which surrounded the battle field. A giant electrical glyph appeared in the sky and flashed.

"Now's our chance!" Stella yelled, "No spell arts or litanies will work for the next minute!"

Before Stella could finish her sentence, Lemiria already had run through Amber with her sword.

Blood pooled on the ground, also soaking Amber's robes. She coughed up blood.

"You relied too much on magic." Lemiria sighed, taking out her blade. "When that was taken away from you-"

"I don't need a lecture from you. Your mother will meet me soon, anyway." Amber interrupted, and ingloriously met her end.

"Tch." Rex sighed, gathering up his supplies. Amber chose her fate, but it didn't make Rex feel any better about the lost life.

Lemiria knew there was no point in brooding over this. She knew that her nanny would probably hate her for this... but she would have to deal with that at another time. "We may as well do what we came here to do. We can give Amber a proper burial later."

Celsius nodded, as he took out the blue dragon jewel. He wasn't entirely certain of what he was doing, but he stood in the center of the chamber, and held up the jewel.

Nothing happened.

"Oh, right." Stella gave Celsius a small smile. "Wait a few more seconds. Rex's anti-magic barrier is still in effect."

"... Oh." Celsius blushed.

At that moment, the cavern was aglow once again with energy, swirling about before finally converging onto Celsius, and a bright flash of light engulfed the room. When it was all clear, standing before Lemiria, Stella, and Rex was...

"What the heck is that?" Rex lifted an eyebrow.

"... Well, it's certainly not any dragon we've encountered so far." Stella wiped her forehead. "The aura matches, though."

Before them stood a large serpent-like creature. Instead of wings, fins were visible, and it looked as if it were a large cross between a fish, a snake, and... something else? Celsius' scales glistened in the cavern's glow, and he lowered his head.

"You look great, Celsius." Lemiria smiled, patting his nose. "How do you feel?"

Celsius nodded. "It's a bit difficult to get used to this body..." He admitted. Raising his head, concentrating, he let loose a bolt of energy which engulfed Lemiria. She received the final dragon blessing.

Reverting to his human form, Celsius stretched. "This feels a lot better, to be honest."

"What's that?" Rex pointed behind Celsius. A crystal was forming from excess energy.

"Is that a Crystal Rememberizer?" Stella wondered. "Celsius, why not go ahead and give it a look?"

Nodding, Celsius turned around and touched the crystal rememberizer. Immediately, a projection appeared on the wall of the cavern. "What's this...? Is this a memory...?" Celsius wondered aloud. A young-looking blue-haired woman with green eyes appeared on the wall, smiling.

"It's been several years since your father, Hiro, chased after me to the Blue Star." She smiled. "These years were the happiest of my life. In honor of Hiro's memory, I will once again go into sleep until the time when the Blue Star is ready to welcome the inhabitants of the Silver Star, Lunar. You, my son, don't need to sleep with me. I will send you to the Silver Star, where you may live out your life to the fullest."

"Who is that?" Lemiria asked.

"The Blue Star... the Silver Star..." Stella repeated, "This might be Lucia of the Blue Star, who visited Lunar during the War of Pentagulia one thousand years ago."

"Well, I already believe in dragons." Rex sighed. "May as well start believing in goddesses now, too."

"I once asked myself, when I first came to Lunar: 'why is the flower so soft, and the snake so deadly?' That may be a question you yourself may ask yourself once you go there. The world that Althena's love created is wondrous indeed. Althena... no, Luna told me that I must have made precious, irreplaceable friends to make it through my journey with Hiro, and I know that you, too, will make invaluable allies on your journey."

"Mother..." Celsius had a tear fall from his eye.

"My darling Lucius, I love you." The recording ended.

"How could I have forgotten such an important memory...?" Celsius looked at his own hands. "It's all coming back to me... Preparing to travel to the Blue Star took several centuries, and even after that when I arrived to Lunar, I didn't wake up right away." He recalled, "When I landed, Vanetian researchers found me, and experimented on me, resulting in me becoming a cat... or, rather, artificial dragon."

"I see." Rex commented, "Given that Lucia of the Blue Star is your mother, you must have a certain physiological predilection toward magic, making you ideal for the researchers' goal of creating a magic-based being, a dragon."

"I'm so sorry you had to go through all of that." Lemiria approached Celsius, and placed her hand on his shoulder. "When this is all over, I'll make certain that those in Vane responsible for this are taken care of."

"I don't mind." Celsius turned to her and smiled. "If it means that I was able to meet all of you, then it was all worth it."

"So, do we call you Celsius like we have been, or your real name, Lucius?" Stella asked, grinning.

Celsius shook his head. "Both are real to me." He smiled. "Thank you for accepting me as I am, everyone."


	10. Chapter Nine

Despite finally having the blessing of all four dragons, Lemiria was not entirely certain what to do next. However, given how tight her group was, she knew one thing was for certain: Leon wasn't a bad person. Sure, he must have betrayed them to some extent, but he was still their comrade, and it was likely he was being blackmailed. Those who were members of the Magic Race and Vile Tribe simultaneously were rare, and looked down upon by the rest of Lunar due to the fact that the Magic Emperor was of the same circumstances. Several things still didn't make sense, but one thing was for certain: Lemiria and the others weren't just ready to pass final judgment on Leon just yet.

"Something must have happened in Vane, since that's when he began to act odd." Celsius suggested. "Why don't we head over there and see if we can find any clues?"

"That doesn't sound like such a bad idea." Stella agreed. "If anything, we can ask Noel what's up, or check out Leon's room. Those would be our best leads."

"So not only are we adventurers, we're detectives now, too?" Rex raised am eyebrow.

"Just be thankful we don't have to be lawyers as well." Lemiria dryly commented. Sighing, she looked at the casket they were lugging along. "We may as well bury Amber. I don't agree with everything she did… well, anything she did, really, but even she doesn't deserve to have her remains rot in a dragon cave."

Using the White Dragon Wings, the party returned to Vane. Stella and Celsius took Amber's body for a proper burial, while Lemiria told Myriel about Amber and tried to help decide things among the Council. That left Rex to go to Leon's room and also try to find Noel.

"He certainly has a lot of prints of girls in their underwear." Rex observed. Shrugging, he continued looking through Leon's desk before moving onto other parts of the room. Unfortunately, Leon didn't leave too much for him to find, and a lot to rustle through. "Man, this blows." Rex pouted, the room now a mess. "The only things left are..." He eyed the prints of the scantily clad women, and began taking them down.

"Aha, what's this?" Rex finally though he hit the jackpot, but only found a pile of books with more pictures of girls in their underwear, or less. "What is up with Leon and collecting these bromides?" Rex tossed the books aside. This was just plain frustrating.

"Leon? Are you there?" Rex's ears perked up and turned around, and Noel was standing in the opened doorway.

"Oh, crap!" Rex laughed nervously. "Um, I can explain, really! I mean!" Suddenly, Rex lifted an eyebrow. "Wait a minute, I'm innocent! You're the one who should be doing the explaining! "

"Pardon?" Noel lifted his own eyebrows.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about!" Rex accused Noel. "You and Leon are somehow from the ancient and extinct Magic Race and also have Vile Tribe tattoos! I saw them when Leon visited you last!" Rex flailed his arms about. However, suddenly recalling what Amber said back at the Blue Dragon Cave. Pounding his fist into his other hand at his epiphany, he looked Noel in the eye. "Amber had some kind of hold over you two!"

Noel stood in silence for a few seconds, before casting his gaze to the side."So, you know."

"You make it kind of obvious." Rex shrugged. "Before she died, Amber said that Leon was leaking information to her in order to save your life."

"My brother Leon and I aren't really brothers." Noel confessed, lowering his head. His voice began to tremble. "We are failed replicas of the Magic Emperor, Ghaleon." He bit his lower lip. It was difficult to admit it, but if Amber had already revealed Leon's betrayal, there was little point in hiding it. Leon was in danger. Noel had to do everything he could to help him.

"Replicas...?" Rex never heard of that term before. "You mean, you're... copies?"

Noel nodded. "The Scarlet Star met with a remnant of the Vile Tribe, and researched to bring back their leader from long ago. The Magic Race are basically beings of concentrated magic; magical symbols and equations are written directly into our cells, unlike humans, which is why we tend to be accomplished sorcerers. Unfortunately, we also relied directly on the Goddess Althena's presence on Lunar to be able to survive as we were, otherwise our life spans are exceptionally shortened." He explained, then began coughing.

"I see... being magical beings puts you at higher risk not only from the effects of magical algorithms, but also sensitive to the ecological changes present when Althena's consciousnesses left Lunar." Rex surmised. That still left the question as to why Leon was still okay, but Rex decided to let Noel finish his story.

"Luckily, before even that, Ghaleon was the last of the Magic Race, and powerful, at that, even by our standards." Noel continued, "The Magic Race began diminishing for some unexplained reason back in the days of Dragonmasters Alicia and Leticia, far before the days of Dragonmaster Dyne. In any case, I'm a failed replica, and my body is deteriorating because it cannot adjust to the magical environment of this era, as opposed to the environment when Ghaleon was still here on Lunar." The magical composition of the land has changed subtly over the past two thousand years, and while most people may not have noticed it, the Magic Tribe was sensitive enough to feel it.

"Okay, so that explains why _you're_ dying." Rex nodded. "But that doesn't explain why Leon's not exhibiting any of your symptoms." Rex stated.

"Leon was almost perfect." Noel nodded. "He is stable, but only has mastery over two elements: earth and flame. A perfect Ghaleon replica would have mastery over the four of the five base elements: earth, flame, water, and lightning. The one element Ghaleon hadn't mastered was wind. I mastered water and lightning magic, so we sort of... complement each other, in a way. Along with that, Leon's genetic make-up isn't entirely from the Magic Tribe, so he isn't as dependant on the magical composition of Lunar as I am."

"Huh." Rex absorbed this information. "Okay, but where does that put Leon? He's been feeding Amber information and Amber totally stabbed him in the back by telling all of us that he was a traitor! "

"He did that to save me." Noel lowered his head. "The last time you were in Vane, we found out that Amber had no intention of helping us, because her connection to the Scarlet Star was the scientist, Powder, who created us. If anybody has the means of extending my life, it would be him; however, we found out when he confronted us, and stated that he had no intention of helping us. We were fools to think that somebody as Amber Lutice would have the means necessary of extending my life."

"The Scarlet Star Army seems to attract bastards, don't they?" Rex thought that what Powder and Amber did was really low, even for a bad guy. "Leon left us after Amber told us about him. Where is he? That idiot is going to get an ear ache from all of us for abandoning us over something as tiny as this."

"... He must be heading toward the Mobile Fortress Grandeury."

"The Mobile Fortress Whatsit?" Rex tilted his head. "What the Hell is that?"

"Using the magitechnology that Vane's underground developed in tandem with Powder's mechanical knowledge, along with ancient texts left by the Vile Tribe scientist Taben from two thousand years ago, he crafted a giant magitechnological weapon modeled after the Grindery." Noel explained. "Powder's been secretly building it underneath the ocean, north of Vane and south of Meribia."

''Well, you're coming with us, then." Rex crossed his arms.

* * *

"There it is, ahead." Noel announced. Celsius transformed into his dragon form, which was exceptionally good at swimming in the ocean and carried the party according to Noel's instructions.

"You can see a tiny mechanical island in the stance." Celsius confirmed, "And I also sense a large structure ahead underneath the waves."

"This journey is just getting more and more unbelievable, isn't it?" Stella commented. "I have to wonder... how many times has Leon wanted to tell us what was going on, but couldn't? He was suffering all alone this entire time..."

"We all have more in common than we were first willing to admit." Rex agreed. "But one thing hasn't changed, and that is that we work best together."

Lemiria's expression remained solemn. She wasn't entirety certain she could forgive Leon right away, but she could understand where he came from. She was a failed Ausa. He was a failed Ghaleon. He did what he had to in order to survive. When it came down to it, while he annoyed her, Lemiria couldn't find it in herself to hate him. He encompassed something that she could never do… enjoy life for what it was, perhaps. Seeing him so carefree and cheerful all of the time without a care in the world, when at times it felt like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders… but now she realized that he had his problems, too. Lemiria was being selfish, thinking that she was the only one with big problems. She had to tell Leon that she was sorry. Biting her lower lip, she lowered her head as the group landed at the Grandeury.

"The doors are locked, obviously." Lemiria sighed.

"Not only that, they're reinforced not only by mechanical locks, but magical glyphs as well." Stella shrugged.

"I could take care of the mechanical locks, but the glyphs and obviously magitechnology locks are out of my league." Rex frowned.

Placing his hand on a lock, Noel and the others heard a clunking sound, and a door opened. "This must be how Leon got in." Noel ascertained. "The gates are tailored to our signature, Ghaleon's signature."

"That's one less thing to worry about." Celsius commented. "Leon can't face Powder alone. Noel, do you have any idea where they might be?"

"Unfortunately, I don't." Noel shook his head. "This is my first time actually visiting the Grandeury."

"Well, we can only move forward. By now they already know that we're here." Lemiria walked through the door.

* * *

It didn't take too long to reach their destination.

There appeared to be a grand ballroom in the Grandeury, oddly enough. Noticing Leon's figure, Lemiria and the others gave a sigh of relief

"Leon, don't go out by yourself like that!" Lemiria tried to smile. No point in punching him now. She began to approach him.

"Wait... something's wrong...!" Noel tried to warn Lemiria.

"His aura... that's not Leon!" Stella shouted.

"What...?" Lemiria took a step back, and the cloaked figure turned around. It had Leon's face, but...

"No...!" Noel gritted his teeth.

"I see that you've met Ghaleon." Turning to see where the voice came from, Lemiria saw a crotchety old man. Smiling, baring his crooked teeth, Powder approached. "This is my perfect replica." He was a man of short stature, and while none of the Lunarians had any idea how those of the Scarlet Star aged, he certainly seemed elderly. He managed to walk without the assistance of a cane, but his movements were jagged and mechanical, unnatural. His raspy voice carried a haughty tone to it.

"That's a perfect replica?" Lemiria was amazed at the resemblance between this Ghaleon replica and Leon. "I don't know why you built a Mobile Fortress or replicas, and quite frankly, I don't care. All I know is that you're being a pain in the ass, and we're going to stop you, Powder!"

"The Scarlet Star doesn't have any magic, but given that you excel in technology, I'm assuming that's how you came to Lunar." Rex spoke. "You don't understand the serious repercussions behind recklessly using magitechnology! You continue doing this, and Lunar will basically become the Frontier!"

Powder simply smirked.

"No... you already knew that?" Stella took a step back.

"The Scarlet Star simply ran out of magic." Powder laughed. "We simply migrate from star to star, and use up their energy."

"You are nothing but parasites..." Celsius narrowed his eyes. "Do you feel no sense of remorse?"

"There's no talking to him." Leon's voice could be heard, as he came out from the shadows from the other end of the room. "Powder is far too stubborn. It's either we stop him, or let him continue doing what he's planning. I'm against the latter."

"Aa, the failure." Powder's eyes squinted at Leon. "I have no more use for you. Ghaleon, dispose of him."

Ghaleon stepped forward between Powder and Leon, and extended his hand. A pool of energy began to form.

"Wait, he's casting a spell with no incantation?" Stella gasped, "Is he also wearing a magitech clip?"

"We're too far to do anything...!" Lemiria gritted her teeth in frustration.

"Die." Light finally illuminated the Ghaleon replica's face, revealing half of it covered in a scale-like magitech clip. With that command, out of his hand shot out a charged swirl of energy. "Energy Arrow."

"Leon!" His friends screamed.

However, in the blink of an eye, Noel was between Leon and the energy bolt. "Energy Shield!" Noel clapped his hands together and held them out in front of himself, protecting Leon.

"Noel, you can't!" Leon yelled. "If you use any more magic, you'll-!"

"I don't care!" Noel yelled back, using all of his strength to keep the energy bolt at bay. "You and Myriel are the only ones in this world who made me feel like something more than a failed experiment. If I can't protect you, even just a fraction of how much you've protected me... then I don't deserve to live anyhow!"

To Noel, he had everything he wanted in life. Leon was kind and protective of him and he was glad that instead of having to worry about a sickly Noel, Leon was off on his own adventure forging bonds with people who wouldn't be leaving him all alone in the manner that Noel was. Noel wanted Leon to be happy… perhaps, Leon didn't view Noel as any sort of burden that he despised, but Noel knew that he was holding Leon back. What was the point of being given these magical abilities if he couldn't even use them to save the people he loved? Certainly, Leon would be sad to see Noel go, but-

"Noel, you idiot-!" Before Leon could finish his exclamation, Noel's energy shield shattered and the energy arrow's remnants pierced Noel's flesh one by one, blood spewing . Noel collapsed, coughing up blood. "You idiot! Why did you do that?" Leon screamed, trying to hold Noel up from falling completely on the floor. The spell arrows dissipated, leaving gaping holes in Noel.

"Now's our chance, everyone!" Lemiria shouted, and on cue everybody charged at Ghaleon and Powder.

"Leon... thank you." Noel sputtered, holding up his hand to Leon's face. "It was nice having a real brother for a while." He then shut his eyes, as tears streaked down Leon's face.

"You... idiot!" Leon choked, holding his brother's corpse tightly. However, a flash of light occurred, and Noel's body began to dissipate. Leon felt a burning sensation all over his body, and a quick look on his arms made him realize that Noel's tattoos were etched onto him somehow. .

"Pointless." Powder sneered, as Ghaleon turned to face Lemiria and the others. With a flick of his wrists, Lemiria and the others were pushed back. Regaining their footing, Leon ran up to them, and faced against Powder.

"You've taken everything away from me!" Leon screamed. "I'm going to kill you!" Letting Noel's body go, Leon charged at Powder with his bare hands.

Powder simply laughed, snapping his fingers, and suddenly the floor underneath the party gave away, plunging them into the ocean.

* * *

Luckily, with quick thinking, Celsius transformed into his dragon self and managed to catch everybody, bringing them to the surface.

"That bastard!" Lemiria coughed, getting water out of her mouth. "He's going to pay for this!"

"I think we have much bigger problems to worry about." Stella pointed at the Grandeury. It was moving, and it's main cannon was repositioning itself

"No...!" Rex gasped, "At that trajectory, it's aiming for Vane!"

"Well, this just got from bad to worse..." Celsius bit his lower lip.

"..." Leon thought for a moment. "Powder's probably already sealed the fortress, especially given that it's mobile now. We should head to Vane and evacuate it." He regretted that he wouldn't be able to find Noel's body now, but at least he was able to be there for him at the very end. He didn't necessarily agree with what Noel did… but Leon could respect it. He wasn't going to allow his brother's death to be meaningless.

* * *

Vane was in a panic, to say the least. By the time Lemiria and the others used the White Dragon Wings to travel back, the people of Vane already knew about the Grandeury's coming and were evacuating. Not exactly in an orderly fashion, but they were scrambling to leave Vane behind.

"Myriel, things are really wrong." Lemiria sighed. She just told Myriel the news of Noel's passing, and Myriel couldn't say much. Without words, Lemiria already knew why Noel called Myriel's name out. There were no words Lemiria could offer to console her best friend. "Anyway, I know that everything in Vane's is in disarray, but... is there anything we can do?" Lemiria's expression softened; Myriel and Noel most likely had something going on between them. Lemiria knew that if Myriel wanted to talk about it, she would; Lemiria wasn't going to force it out of her. The best Lemiria could do was continue to be herself, Myriel's friend.

Myriel shook her head. "People are already under the assumption that Vane's falling apart at the seams, what with two of the council members dead and Auntie Mira's declining health." Myriel looked out the window. "If they knew everything else that was going on... well, I don't want to think of how they'd react then."

"Fair weather subjects, huh?" Lemiria rubbed her temples. "Myriel I'm so sorry to be dumping this burden on you."

"It's fine." Myriel tried to smile at her friend. "The fact that you entrusted me with such a large responsibility... that makes me happy." Myriel's expression then turned serious. "Lemiria, I've been giving it some serious thought. Don't you think that Auntie Mira's deteriorating condition was a little too... convenient?"

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it." Myriel suggested, "The timing is very suspicious. Her condition went downhill right after you left Vane, and she's usually as tough as nails."

"You sense foul play." Lemiria concluded.

"It would make sense." Myriel nodded. "Auntie Mira's condition was been stable ever since the late Councilmember Amber's passing. But if things continue, she really will die."

"Okay. I'm going to go to Amber's room and find something." Lemiria stood up. "Whatever it is, she has to have some sort of record of it."

"Wait, Lemiria." Myriel stopped her "I think it may be best if you sent two of your companions to do that. We have something else we must discuss." Myriel stood up and faced Lemiria.

"What do you mean?" Lemiria lined an eyebrow.

"I have no intention of just handing Vane over for target practice to the Scarlet Star, and I doubt you do, either." Myriel stated.

* * *

"So, this is the legendary Silver Spire." Leon whistled. Lemiria and Myriel simply nodded. Lemiria sent Rex and Stella to handle the rummaging through Amber's belongings, and had Leon and Celsius accompany her and Myriel to the entrance of the Silver Spira.

"It's been untouched for the past two thousand years, since the Fall." Myriel explained."It's the main reason why the Ausa dynasty is taken so seriously; it's the control center of all of Vane, and only the Ausa lineage has any access to it whatsoever."

"It's amazing." Celsius gazed at the ornate entrance. It was still well-kept despite its lack of use.

Lemiria stood in front of the door, and she noticed something peculiar. Her hand was shaking. Lifting it up, it was still shaking, and she began to understand why. "I... this is a test of whether or not I'm truly an Ausa, isn't it?"

"Lemiria..." Myriel's face portrayed concern for her friend.

"All my life, I never doubted the love of my mother." Lemiria spoke, "But in the back of my mind, I always wondered, am I the only Ausa in history who doesn't have any magic whatsoever? Am I really an Ausa? Was I switched at birth, or something? Or am I just a failure...?" Lemiria choked. "If I touch this door, and it doesn't recognize me, does that mean my life has been nothing but a lie?"

Leon and Celsius didn't know what to say.

Myriel simply gently smiled, holding Lemiria' hand in her own. Lemiria's fears seemed to melt away at the sight of Myriel's smile, as if she knew everything would be all right just by seeing her friend's face. Simultaneously and slowly, both put their hands onto the door, and the chamber was filled with a blaze of light...

* * *

"This ain't Vane anymore." Leon scratched the back of his head. Lemiria, Leon, and Celsius found themselves in an odd cavern, illuminated only by magical torches which weren't on fire, but emitted light regardless. The walls were stone, with patches of marble and mosaic artworks decorating them. "I don't recognize this place."

"So, this isn't the inside of the Silver Spire?" Celsius looked around. "I'm not familiar with the images these pieces depict, but I don't see anything relating to Vane."

"No... they are." Lemiria fingered the mosaic images, recalling their meaning. "This one is an image of humans emigrating from the Blue Moon to Lunar." She traced her finger over a floating city. "This figure is probably Lucia... your mother, Celsius." She explained, showing the image of a woman in a large circle representing the Blue Moon. "The figure in front of the floating city is most likely Althena and the Four Dragons."

"I see... so, this is probably a really old shrine." Leon nodded. "A floating city, though? Do you think that could have been Vane? I mean, obviously Vane floated once before, but maybe there were others?"

"Maybe. It's a bit difficult to grasp." Celsius commented. "But if we've learned anything at all during this journey of ours, it's that sometimes the impossible really is possible."

"That's an understatement." Lemiria sighed. The three walked down the hallway, and came to another mural. "This one's odd. It looks like the mural from before, but reversed."

"You mean, people from Lunar going to the Blue Moon?" Celsius tilted his head.

"This one's different, though." Leon pointed out. "Instead of the four dragons, there are four sacred beasts... a dragon, a tiger, a turtle, and a phoenix. And it looks like Lucia who's leading them?"

"No... it looks similar to Lucia from the first mural, but there's a subtle difference. I can't put my finger on it, though..." Lemiria mused aloud.

Celsius nodded. "In any case, it looks like there's a open room ahead."

"Come to think of it... I think I may know where we are." Leon spoke. "Thinking about these murals, and that we were in the Silver Spire before this, we might be in Althena's Shrine, which has been buried underground for several hundred years. It was the final battle field of the final Dragonmaster and the Magic Emperor."

Entering the giant chamber, it suddenly illuminated and a recorded projection of an elderly woman appeared in the center of the room.

"Welcome, one who has gained the favor of the Four Dragons." She spoke.

"Is it Althena...?" Leon had to rub his eyes.

"No, I think it is Luna, the woman Nall has a sculpture of in his cave." Celsius said.

"It's both." Lemiria nodded. "Luna is the final human reincarnation of Althena."

"As you know, the age of Dragonmasters is passed." Luna lowered her head. "It ails me that there will be no further Dragonmasters in the future, after my late husband, Alex Noah."

"What is up with these people getting married all of the time?" Leon lifted an eyebrow. "We're all still single!"

"However, I do know that Lunar will be in need of heroes." Luna continued. "People have no need of a goddess to watch over their shoulder, but humans are weak creatures who will succumb to their selfish desires. I believe you have come here in such a time when Lunar is in much danger."

"Slightly obvious, yes, but you have to appreciate her foresight." Lemiria commented.

"I know that during your journey, you must have made very special friends and allies. They are your strength." Luna smiled. "You may not be a Dragonmaster, but you are a hero. Hold your head up high, and I will continue to pray for the day when the inhabitants of Lunar may one day return to the Blue Star. Until then, accept this, my gift to you... Dragon Knight."

With a flash of light, Leon and Celsius grunted, causing Lemiria to turn around. Out of their chests came out twin blades: out of Leon came a golden blade which shimmered, seemingly on fire; out of Celsius emerged a silver blade, reflecting light much like light hits a clear blue lake. Celsius kneeled down, presenting his sword to Lemiria. Blushing a bit, Leon let out a bit breath and finally followed suit.

Lemiria picked both blades up, one in each hand. It was a sensation unlike anything else she had ever experienced before, brimming with power. Not only of physical power, but the power that her two friends have given her. Looking at them, she grinned. Fire and ice, the signature of the Ausa clan. "This beats the hell out of being born with magic."


	11. Chapter Ten

With a flash of the White Dragon Wings, Lemiria, Leon, and Celsius found themselves in a giant control room that none of them recognized. However, the surrounding view was quite telling.

"This is the Silver Spire," Lemiria said, looking out the window. From the Silver Spire was a grand bird's eye view of Vane. The people in view seemed smaller than ants, and she could see the chaos in the city from its imminent destruction. Lemiria felt a sensation she had never felt before, a tearing in her heart that was anxious at the idea that Vane may have been gone forever. She felt her pride as an Ausa, and a holder of the legacy, dreams, and hopes of Vane and countless generations of people who poured their blood, sweat, and tears into this city.

Looking up, she saw that Grandeury continuing to charge its energy. Apparently, even with a perfect Ghaleon replica and a massive amount of magitechnology, even a weapon of that magnitude couldn't fire right off of the bat. That could definitely work to their advantage.

"This room is unlike anything I've ever seen." Leon looked around, and began to approach a console as he typed. "This ancient magitechnology? Only, the formulas are completely different..."

"Different, how?" Celsius walked up beside Leon, trying to make sense of the screens Leon was pulling up.

"It relies far more on magic than technology, basically." Leon tried to explain. "So it converts other energy forms into magic, instead of eating up magic and leaving nothing, in other words. So it's not dangerous! There are a lot of black boxes in this system and programming I can't make out, but apparently it was once possible to have magitechnology and not harm the environment."

"If Rex ever found out about this, he'd probably wet his pants in excitement." Lemiria chuckled.

* * *

"Achoo!" Rex sneezed. "That's odd... somebody must be talking about me."

"Look, Rex, litanies can't cure the occasional sneeze due to dust." Stella sighed. The two were in the midst of all of the chaos, attempting to evacuate the city before the Grandeury's weapon hit. "We managed to find the antidote and cure Majesty Miralda's ailment, but we've got a big problem on our hands!"

"Where are Lemiria and the others?" Rex asked, "We can't leave without them!"

"They're fine." Rex and Stella turned to see Myriel. She was easily and observably the calmest of everyone in Vane, apparently. "Your friends are all right; just place a little faith in them, all right? Right now, let's concentrate on what we can do on our end."

Stella and Rex nodded, and continued to help with the evacuation.

"Lemiria..." Myriel looked up at the Silver Spire. "It's all up to you."

* * *

"There has to be something in here that can help us!" Lemiria looked over Leon's shoulder, trying to make sense of the screens he was pulling up. "The Silver Spire is supposed to be used in times of Vane's crises, right?"

"Wait..." Celsius tapped a button. "This file..."

Immediately, on the window, showed a sepia recording.

"Is that you, Lemiria?" Leon asked, looking up in awe. "No..." He shook his head. "This... this is your ancestor, Majesty Mia Ausa."

"This must be a recording of the Fall!" Lemiria stepped forward, looking at her ancestor. There was no audio, but it was quite apparent what was going on. The image of Mia witnessed the oncoming of the Grindery, and Mia lifted her arm to focus and concentrate all of Vane's resources to this single task. With a flash of power, Mia attacked the Grindery with everything that Vane and the Ausa clan could muster.

"The resemblance is really uncanny." Celsius noted. "This situation and that situation... the people involved... history is repeating itself, isn't it?"

Lemiria nodded. "The cycle of destruction." She shook her head. "What must have been going through Mia's mind when she did what she did, and it resulted in the Fall of Vane? How many people must have held such a grudge against her for destroying one of the most prominent features and a very symbol of Lunar?"

The recording then cut to another scene. Mia was still in it, so it must have been taken a few years after the War of the Magic Emperor as she seemed a bit older. Also taking place in the Silver Spire, Mia was at the mercy of an assailant, with her friends simply watching.

"This... this wasn't mentioned in the historical texts." Lemiria took a step back. From the robes that Mia's assailant wore, Lemiria could tell that it was a councilmember of the time. "That magic circle...!"

"That mandala is a forbidden Telos spell art." Leon gritted his teeth. "It transfers the aura of the target to the spell caster. Judging by this scene, I'm assuming that Councilmember is attempting to steal the Ausa clan aura... probably to control the Silver Spire. Everybody thinks they can do a better job, apparently."

In the recording, before the spell could hit Mia, the image of a young man took the blow for her. The recording then cut out.

"Sacrifice." Celsius commented, "Is it really impossible to save everyone? Do people have to be sacrificed for others to survive?"

"It's something that adults have to deal with." Leon rationalized, answering Celsius' rhetorical question.

"I guess that sometimes it feels like there's only a finite amount of happiness in the world." Lemiria added. "Everybody's out looking for themselves; not everybody can be happy all at once. A utopia is a dream which can't be realized." She lowered her head.

"So there's absolutely no way that everybody can be happy?" Celsius asked.

"No." Leon answered quickly. "By doing what we're doing, we're fighting back against the Scarlet Star. There's no reconciliation there. And we're not going to simply allow them to do whatever they want at our expense."

"I don't think it should be completely impossible, though." Lemiria turned to look at Leon. "I mean, I don't mind the possibility becoming true. It's just that when push comes to shove, you may have to make a decision, but is the notion of a world where sacrifice doesn't have to exist in such extreme measures such a bad thing? I mean, I don't know what happened to Majesty Mia or that man who saved her, or the connection that they shared, but people don't do things like that unless they were prepared to give up everything for someone."

"However, I doubt he considered her feelings in the matter." Leon's eyebrows furrowed. "How would she feel, his life being taken away because of her?"

"But how would he feel, knowing he could have saved her, but didn't… simply standing there and allowing her to die right before his eyes?" Celsius asked.

There apparently was no right answer. They stood in silence as another recording began to play. This time, a blonde Ausa was looking over the balcony of the Magic Guild's main building. It was amazing how little the architecture changed over hundreds of years. Audio played this time.

"Borgan... Neo-Vane... the Black Dragon Aura..." The blonde Ausa whispered to herself. "It was my attitude that brought all this on. All my efforts to bring Vane back to its former glory resulted in a frustrated Borgan making his own Vane, and causing all of this..."

"I'd say that has to be Majesty Lemina Ausa." Leon observed. It was easy enough to tell by her references.

"Making mistakes... not only Ausas, but everybody stumbles through life, don't they? Despite feeling discouraged, I guess it's important to still take steps forward, learning from your errors to build a better tomorrow." Lemiria solemnly spoke.

The screens cut out, revealing the Grandeury almost ready to fire.

Lemiria turned to Leon and Celsius, and grinned. "You guys ready to help me?"

"You know it." Leon grinned back.

"We've got your back." Celsius nodded formally. "But what can we do?"

"If history is intent on repeating itself, I'm going to defy fate. I'm going to do what several generations of my ancestors couldn't do." Lemiria announced. "I'm going to make Vane fly again."

"Lemiria, we know you're awesome and all, but isn't that impossible?" Leon lifted an eyebrow.

"She's stubborn." Celsius teased. "If anybody can do it, I believe Lemiria cam."

Stepping up on the main pedestal, Lemiria took a deep breath. Holding up her new twin blades, the Red Sun and the Blue Moon, she smiled as she closed her eyes. "I've made pacts with the Four Dragons, and I'm of the Ausa bloodline. I'm going to make Vane rise!" Opening her eyes, energy swirled around Vane from all four directions, and Lemiria jammed her twin swords into the pedestal she was standing upon.

* * *

"Whoa!" Rex waves his arms around, attempting to regain his balance. There was a huge earthquake. "Are we being hit by the Grandeury's beam?"

"No...!" Stella lowered herself to keep her balance. Luckily, much of the city was already evacuated. "The magical energies coming from all four cardinal points...! Vane! It's Vane! Rex, Vane is rising!"

"How the heck did they manage that?"

"I have no idea, but it's happening!" Stella shouted over the rumbling.

Indeed it was. The city slowly began to rise, as plants and ground began to crumble around it from the island city's slumber for two thousand years. The city began struggling to tear itself away from the mother earth, and even a few buildings on the outskirts slid off of the main body and landed ingloriously on the ground.

In several moments, there was a crater where Vane used to be.

* * *

"It's coming!" Celsius yelled, the Grandeury's energy weapon finally firing its beam.

"He couldn't adjust his trajectory in time!" Leon pumped his fist. "We're going to make it!"

Lemiria fell to her knees, exhausted. Was this what it felt like to use magic? She wasn't entirely certain, but she had to try to catch her breath.

There was another tremor as the giant beam passed Vane by.

"Where is it going?" Lemiria asked, turning to Leon.

"... Heh. Look." Leon pointed.

The beam, having missed its initial mark, continued to muscle its way through the map, and finally landed in the Frontier, where the Scarlet Star Army settlement was.

"That was a gamble..." Celsius exhaled in relief

"I doubt Powder thought very highly of his people, to have considered that possibility." Leon commented. "He didn't think that he'd miss Vane."

"'That, or..." Lemiria bit her lower lip. "No, I don't know. But something was odd about that, regardless. Even if Vane stayed earthbound, it would have destroyed the top."

"Come to think of it..." Celsius nodded, "You're right. There's no point in wondering about it, though. The Grandeury's down for the count after such a large emission of energy. It's time we infiltrated it once more for a final confrontation."

Lemiria and Leon nodded in agreement.

* * *

"I never thought I'd live to see the day Vane would be in the sky again." Nall smiled. Holding his hand was Ruby.

"It's amazing. You've told me stories, but… wow." Ruby gazed upward. "I'm not used to looking up like this." She giggled.

"You two..." Lemiria, Celsius, Leon, Stella, and Rex approached the two human-form dragons on the ground among the evacuated people of Vane. Lemiria smiled. "It's thanks to your blessings that I was able to do this."

"What is up with those new blades?" Stella asked, placing her hand on Lemiria's shoulders. "They're rather stylish... and their auras remind me of-"

Celsius and Leon nodded. Leon explained, "They were a gift from Althena. She used us somehow to craft these magnificent blades for Lemiria.

"... I think I'm missing a rib." Celsius patted around his torso. Everybody laughed.

"Well." Stella crossed her arms and smirked. "I'd have to wonder what kind of blades Rex and I would have made for you."

Nall shook his head. "I'm assuming it had to be Leon and Celsius because they're both magic-based beings."

"That makes sense, I guess." Rex tilted his head.

"This upcoming battle will be the toughest, yet." Ruby walked up to Lemiria. "When you need us..." Ruby placed a necklace in Lemiria's hand, "Call, and we will come to your aid. We can't fight like Celsius, but we will support you in any way we can."

"Thank you." Lemiria bowed respectfully to Ruby "I hope I don't disappoint."

Turning to Celsius, Ruby continued to smile. "I heard everything. So, you're Hiro's child… no wonder why you felt so familiar to me." A tear welled up in her eye. "We have a lot to discuss once you get back." Celsius simply nodded.

"That was amazing, Lemiria!" Myriel said, arriving.

"Myriel! Are you all right?" Lemiria walked toward Myriel, giving a sigh of relief "When we disappeared from the front of the Silver Spire, I was so worried about you!"

"I'm fine." Myriel nodded. "Even more than that, it's amazing to see Vane fly again! I know you have to go and fight against the ones who did this, but we'll be all right here. Auntie Mira's not quite conscious yet, but her condition is improving drastically. We can use the Cave of Trials to get back to Vane."

"Myriel." Lemiria held Myriel's hands in her own. "You're going to tell everybody that you're the one responsible for reviving Vane."

Everybody gasped.

"Lemiria!" Rex stepped up, "What are you saying? You've gone on this journey with all of us, and we all know you're the one responsible for making pacts with all four dragons and making Vane air born again!"

Stella held Rex's shoulder, and Rex back. "She's not throwing it all away. She knows that there's a chance we might not be coming back."

"If we don't make it back, the people need a capable leader and hero." Leon smiled. "I don't think Myriel's a bad choice at all."

"I don't understand the politics of it all, but I do know that Lemiria has a reason behind everything that she does. She's very honest." Celsius nodded. "She loves Vane more than anybody. She's doing this for Vane."

Myriel bowed her head. "I pray it doesn't come to that. I will wait to make the announcement until your return. Because you will return."

And with that, Lemiria hugged Myriel. There was still the issue of what exactly happened at the entrance to the Silver Spire, but there was no time. She'd have to make it back and confront Myriel about it then.

* * *

The Grandeury seemed even bigger than it was before, now that most of it was above water. There was no way to get up to the previous entrance, so the group had to enter a lower entrance and climb their way up to the top.

Unfortunately, it wasn't as empty as last time.

"What is this...?" Rex's eyes widened in disgust, followed by Celsius covering his own mouth. Nobody found this sight to be endearing at all.

They didn't notice it last time, but this time they noticed in this area of the Grandeury that lined up against all of walls were giant tubes filled with green liquid, and within those vials were tubes protruding from animals… magic animal test subjects. "This… is what they were researching…?" Celsius looked away. "This is disgusting!"

"We have to stop them." Lemiria nodded. "Stop them from doing something this horrendous ever again!"

They were not alone, however.

Celsius stepped forward, a horde of Scarlet Star monsters in front of them. There were easily hundreds, far outnumbering the party. "There are stairs to the next level." Celsius told his friends. "You go on up; I'll hold these guys off, and meet up with you later."

"Celsius, don't try to be a hero." Lemiria shook her head. "There's no way you can take these monsters on all by yourself!"

"There's no point in everybody getting exhausted when we're not even close to Powder and Ghaleon!" Celsius yelled, causing Lemiria to step back.

"Look, he's the Blue Dragon." Leon put his hand on Lemiria's shoulder. "He's going to mop the floor with these guys, and meet up with us later, right?"

"You're a good man, Celsius." Stella smiled, blowing him a kiss. Rex, on the other hand, was already halfway up the stairs.

As everybody went up the stairs, Celsius struck the bars and made the stairway collapsed on itself at the bottom, barring any entry or retreat. Facing his opponents, he smirked. Charging headfirst into the horse with his staff, it unhooked at two points as he swung it around, sweeping the first row of enemies into the next. "I may not have been born a dragon, and I may be an artificial experiment... but my friends are the most important thing to me. They accepted me for who I am, and believed in me." Celsius smiled. Continuing to fight, he aimed for their legs with his staff, now reconnected into one piece, and struck his enemies as hard as he could.

There were many of them. Getting winded, Celsius wasn't used to fighting alone, but he knew that he couldn't let his friends down. Celsius finally got hit several times, and he wiped some blood from his cheek. "This pain... is nothing compared to how I've been treated in the past as a test subject!" He screamed, energy flowing out of him. His eyes glowing, he jammed his staff from the air to the ground. "You shall not pass!"

Holding his hands together, Celsius let out a mighty roar which reverberated throughout the entire floor, and his blue aura became visible. "Hidden Arts! Leviathan Tsunami Circle!" Bursting with energy, Celsius transformed into his serpentine dragon form and circled around the floor of the Grandeury, locking in his enemies before letting loose a giant breath of energy upon all of his foes, drowning them. Coiling back up, he turned back into his human form and gasped for air, falling to his knees. Exhausted, he looked up the stairs and smiled. "It's all up to you, guys."

* * *

"Wait, I'm losing my breath!" Rex huffed, halting in the middle of another giant room. The stairs to the next level were across the room this time, unfortunately. Holding his knees, Rex gasped for air; his sides hurt, a lot. He wasn't used to so much physical activity, and adrenaline could only take him so far.

"Litanies can't relieve exhaustion, Rex." Stella sighed, also stopping and placing her hand on Rex's back. Heavens knew that she could have used a break as well.

"There's no time!" Lemiria reached the stairs with Leon. "They're going to recharge that weapon at any moment!"

"We got lucky the first time. There's no guarantee Vane will be as lucky the second." Leon agreed with Lemiria. "Look, you guys can stay here and wait for Celsius, and heal him. Then you can come up and join us later."

"Splitting up is a bad idea." Lemiria shook her head. "If we divide our forces any further…!"

"Leon's right, Lemiria!" Rex shouted, "Stop being so damn stubborn for once and get to it! Do you really think we'd miss the final showdown?"

Stella simply nodded. "If you get bogged down with us, then there's no point. Go up there and give them Hell to pay!"

"I swear, you're all more stubborn than I ever could be!" Lemiria gritted her teeth.

"We all do seem to go well together." Leon smirked, and took Lemiria's hand as they went up the stairs.

Stella took a moment, and looked at Rex. "You really didn't want to hold them back, did you?"

Rex shook his head. "I'm just a kid. My short legs can't carry me fast enough."

"Fair enough. My high heels don't make for productive running, either." Stella shrugged. Which of course begged the question as to why she didn't just take them off, but Rex knew better than to argue with a woman. However, in that moment, several mechanical creatures began to break free from the walls, activated. They made a bee-line toward the two in the center of the room. Stella found the clanking irritating. "Robotic enemies. I hate those; they always make me chip a nail."

"If they're mechanical, they'll fry with my electromagnetic gear." Rex smirked. "I'll take care of them, and when they're softened up you can clean up. Deal?"

"Always the brilliant strategist." Stella smirked.

* * *

"We're almost there." Leon announced, as they were more than three-fourths to the top. "I think we only have so much more to go…!" Leon and Lemiria stopped, recognizing the ballroom they were in previously. Moving across the room, both made sure not to trigger the trap door from before.

Trap door after trap door was activated as they made their way through the room, separating them from each other. By the time Lemiria reached the other staircase, Leon was trapped in the middle of the room, surrounded by holes. "Tch…" He gritted his teeth.

"Hang on, I'll try to find a rope or something!" Lemiria yelled at him across from the room.

"You needn't bother." Leon shrugged. "You always forget that you're the more physically fit out of the two of us, so my reflexes and reaction times aren't as good. Hence, our current predicament. You go on up and I'll follow soon, all right?" He saluted, grinning.

"I'm not leaving without you!" Lemiria screamed.

"Oh, don't say that!" Leon laughed it off. "Otherwise you make it sound like Celsius, Rex, and Stella weren't as important!"

"Don't weasel your way out of this one!" Lemiria scowled. "I'm not going to face Ghaleon and Powder alone!" A tear ran down her face. "I can't do it without any of you!"

Leon was surprised, and stopped grinning immediately. Crossing his arms, he witnessed after other plates began to continue falling, and avian monsters were flying up, one by one, filling the room. "Look, Lemiria, you have to do this. Do you not believe any of us when we say we'll catch up?"

"No!" Lemiria stomped her foot. "We're all supposed to do this together!"

"You wouldn't have said that at the beginning of this journey, so why now?"

"Because you're all my friends now, dammit!" Lemiria screamed. "I trust all of you with my life!"

Leon looked around him, and the enemies were simply growing in number. "You can do this, Lemiria. None of us are going to miss the final showdown. I… don't want you to see me like this." His voice cracked. "I can't always stay cheerful, all right? Just like you can't always stay the feisty woman I've come to know you to be! But we all have to realize that once we experience true friendship, we can't use it as a crutch. We use it to move forward, toward a new tomorrow. You helped me believe in a tomorrow, Lemiria."

"I can't believe I'm doing this…" Lemiria slammed her fist against the railing. "You'd better get up there in time, or else I'll never forgive you!"

"Gotcha." Leon saluted, Lemiria's steps echoing. Turning around, he gathered that all of the monsters who would have appeared, have appeared by now. Balancing on such a small area, Leon was dripping sweat; closing his eyes, he searched for the thing which would bring him comfort.

An image of his brother, Noel, appeared, smiling.

Remembering his new tattoos given to him in this very room, Leon smirked. "You've always watched out for me, and I've always tried to return to favor. I can't anymore." He looked up. "But now I can protect somebody important to me… people important to me, people who have become important to me. Friends. So, I'm going to survive." Raising his hands, his tattoos began to glow. "I won't forgive you… I call upon the countless blessings of Althena, blessing the world to Lunar, to turn to the future! You evil souls, receive it!" With a clap of his hands, his red tattoos began to glow, as fire erupted from his aura and swept through his foes.

"Cleansing flame, absolve this dross!" As the flames scorched the enemies, an icy wind was immediately evident as his blue tattoos from Noel began to glow. "Merciless mist, pierce these demons!" Ice needles began to form from the ice wind, puncturing several of the enemies' wings. Leon's green tattoos from Noel were then aglow. "Divine aether, spread your judgment!" From the ice needles, a vast network of electricity formed between them and electrocuted the winged beings. Leon's hood blew away, revealed his hair and ears.

With a snap of his fingers, his yellow tattoos lit up like fireworks. "Finishing touch! Hidden Arts! Tetra Tragedy!" Giant boulders of all sizes and shapes of earth them whirled around Leon and bombarded whoever was still around.

They all perished, falling down into the hole they came from.

Gasping for air, Leon bent down to his knees to catch his breath. "Noel… giving me your spell arts? I guess I should thank you."

* * *

The next several minutes seemed to last an eternity with the myriad of thoughts running through Lemiria's head as she ram up the final flight of stairs. This journey which she began simply as a distraction from everything, it turned out to be such a life-changing event. The dragons she had only heard of in faerie tales, befriending her, one even watching over her for her entire life without her knowing. Her friends, who began as annoyances who tagged along on her journey; when did they become such indispensible allies? Vane, the grand city which held her proud family, her legacy, all to protect the culture of Lunar and to utilize the gifts of the Goddess... almost nothing seemed to matter anymore, now that she was alone. Wiping away her tears of frustration, she came to a single room, before she reached the apex of the mobile fortress. In the middle was something she wasn't expecting to see.

"Damned ungrateful piece of junk!" Powder cursed to himself, outfitting himself with pieces of machinery shaped like armor. "That garbage thinks he can just toss me away? I created him! If anything, I should be the one to throw him away!"

Lemiria cautiously approached Powder, as his back was turned to her and the clanking of his armor masked her footsteps. She felt a little uneasy. Before this journey began, she never hesitated to charge into anything. Exactly when did she begin to get so used to having her friends watch her back, to the point where it felt unnatural that they weren't there anymore? The Grandeury's movements masked her trembling, but her determination wasn't going to be shaken. "Did your little pet finally bite the hand that fed it?" She drew her weapon. "You dabbled in things you couldn't quite understand or control, could you? Thanks to you, most of the Scarlet Star Army is decimated."

Powder simply sneered, putting the finishing touches on his armor. He wasn't pleased, however, as her frowned. "I would never make such an erroneous calculation. It happened because that piece of garbage decided to throw a fit."

"And your answer to that is to don that monstrosity and kill him?" Lemiria lifted am eyebrow. "You always destroy what you can't control, can't you?"

"Like you're any different." Powder bore his teeth, putting on his helmet. "I know your group has mercilessly killed Amber, Cyanide, and Fairen as well."

"I'm not going to justify myself." Lemiria took on a fighting stance. "You made sacrifices to ensure the prolongation of your people, and I'm going to make sacrifices to ensure that my people aren't going to be victimized by you. If you're searching for a goody-two-shoes hero with a conscience, you got served the wrong main dish."

"I was saving this powered magitech mobile exoskeleton to deal with Ghaleon, but I'll use you as a warm-up, then." Powder's helmet closed, and steam emitted from his armor's joints.

Lemiria knew that Powder's mechanical prowess was magnificent to say the least, but that incredible exoskeleton looked slow. However, since it was metal, her sword wouldn't be able to do much damage to it... she would have to discover a weakness as she went along, and avoid Powder's weaponry. Charging forward, Lemiria slammed her two blades of fire and ice together in order to form a single blade, to allow herself to don her shield with her other arm. Her blows were deflected by Powder's arms, and she took a step back.

Was she useless alone? Was she deluding herself by following the path of a warrior instead of an Ausa Majesty? If her friends were here, this Powder guy would already be eating dirt...! Lemiria then realized that alone, she never amounted to much. Being an Ausa in name amounted to nothing, alone. She learned that from Stella, who became an Alkirk through her deeds for the people, rather than being born into it. Being a failure at not being able to use magic amounted to nothing. Leon and Noel were failed Ghaleon replicas, but still struggled to survive at any cost. The past alone amounted to nothing. Celsius wasn't born a dragon, but rather than force him into a future following in his mother's footsteps, Celsius became a dragon and did everything in his power to save Lunar. Rex may not have had much personally invested in this entire journey, but he, too, was an invaluable part of their team, somebody who always emphasized knowledge…

Having knowledge by itself amounted to nothing, but knowledge was half of the battle. Imagining Rex's face, Lemiria smiled. There was a simple solution to this battle, after all. Rex went on and on about magitechnology and machinery in general, it was easy to ignore him, but she was glad she listened to him on this particular topic.

Realizing that the machine's joints emitted steam, Lemiria aimed for them. Lemiria was usually a slasher, so thrusting her sword in points like fencing wasn't her strong suit, but she tried anyway. She first aimed for the knee joints, disabling his freedom of movement, and then his elbows and shoulders, disabling his means of attack. Jumping back, steam profusely escaped from his armor, and he was immobile. "So much for a mobile suit." She gasped, catching her breath.

"No, my beautiful creation...!" Powder screamed.

"If you haven't noticed, your 'beautiful creations' tend to backfire on you." Lemiria walked over, and aimed her sword at Powder's throat. "Besides, they're not your creations. This Grandeury? It's a rip off of the Grindery. Your Ghaleon replica is nothing more than replica. Leon and Noel were far more human and complete than he or you will ever be. Can't you ever create something on your own? Carve out your own path? You're pathetic." Lemiria sheathed her blade. "Live with your crime. If you survive being stuck in that piece of crap when we take this hunk of junk down."

Lemiria walked over to the final flight of stairs to the top of the Grandeury, but halted. "You-!"

"Hey." Leon saluted.

"You were amazing, Lemiria!" Rex beamed.

"I told you we wouldn't miss the final showdown." Stella winked.

"How did you guys get here?" Lemiria took a step back, her eyes welling up.

Celsius answered, "I found an elevator, and picked the others up. It would have been more convenient if we found that first, huh?"

Lemiria simply ran to her friends and gave them a big group hug.

"Let's have Stella heal us up, and let's get going." Leon patted Lemiria's back. "We're not finished yet."

Lemiria nodded. "Right." Looking from comrade to comrade, she couldn't help but give a heartfelt smile. "We're doing this together."


	12. Final Chapter

It was the final battle. It felt quite real, but this was reality; every single step Lemiria took was zeroing in on this moment. Luckily, she didn't have to face it alone. Unexpectedly, she gained valuable allies; more than that, she gained irreplaceable friends. When did they become such an integral part of her? Perhaps that didn't matter in the end. She was ready for anything at this point, which was a good thing; none of them knew what to expect, but were confident and assured with every step they took toward the apex of the Grandeury.

The control room for the Grandeury's weapons system was especially grand, with a giant skylight in which you could see the Blue Moon. In the center of the control room knelt the so-called 'perfect' Ghaleon replica, coughing blood.

"I see. Your body couldn't adjust to the magic-based climate changes of Lunar, either." Leon lowered his head.

"So that's why you attacked the Scarlet Star Army," Lemiria narrowed her eyes. "You're a rather spiteful creature, aren't you?"

"You don't have to do this." Rex clenched his fists. "We can just walk away from this, you with us, and put this all behind us. We don't have to fight, do we?"

Ghaleon stood up, wiping the blood from the side of his mouth away with his wrist. His eyes had a crazed look in them, which was a telltale sign that he was not in the mood for a peaceful resolution.

"An existential crisis when you're so young?" Stella shook her head, crossing her arms. "Surely you can be more original than that."

"You don't have to turn this into a death sentence." Celsius' face showed concern. "There have already been so many deaths which could have been avoided. Please, don't make this any more difficult than it has to be."

"The time for talk is past." Ghaleon glared at his foes, standing between him and the destruction of Lunar. "If I, a perfect being, cannot live... then the rest of the world shouldn't live, either!" With that, his aura went wild, expanding to fill the room with a dense air.

"He's using Primal Magic!" Leon gritted his teeth, trying to keep his footing. "He's lost it! If we're not careful, he might bring the Grandeury down for us... along with us! "

"This is it, everybody!" Lemiria announced to her comrades, "We finish this, and it's all over!"

"You don't have to tell me twice." Celsius agreed, taking his fighting stance with his staff.

"Given that we need Stella's litanies and Leon's spell arts, I won't use the decompositioning field." Rex said. "I see that his magitech clip is broken, so that should be enough. Get him, you guys!"

"Let's give this everything we've got!" Stella smirked. "May as well go out with a bang!"

Dodging thunderbolts, ice needles, jutting boulders, and thrown flames, Lemiria lunged forward with an opening slash towards Ghaleon's torso, with Stella jumping up from behind her to deliver several mid-air spinning kicks toward his head. Ghaleon stumbling back, Celsius attacked his flank with his staff and pushed him up midair as Rex's arrows and Leon's Fire Bolt combined to strike him with electrified flaming projectiles. Stella pushed against the ground and performed a back flip kick to Ghaleon's spine simultaneously as Celsius hit Ghaleon's chest with his staff. Dipping her sword into a pool of lightning left over from Ghaleon's Primal Magic, Lemiria rammed him through the side of his gut and flung him toward another barrage of electricity, arrows, and rock needles from Leon and Rex.

Ghaleon managed to regain his composure midair, floating, while deflecting the oncoming barrage with a wall of ice, which prompted Lemiria to separate her blade and use the flaming sword to cut through the barrier by jumping up and stabbing it, but the ice shards had a mind all of their own as they rained down on Stella and Celsius, the former who managed to deflect most of them by spinning his staff. Stella then jumped up onto Celsius' staff, and he launched her toward Ghaleon, in which she delivered a barrage of mid-air kicks and punches, finally grabbing him by the collar and throwing him face-first into the ground. Getting up, he managed to form a barrier of earth to dissipate an incoming wave slash from Lemiria, who extended her blades thanks to Rex's beam attacks, but not before another Fire Bolt struck him from Leon's direction.

Stella picked up one of the boulders and hurled it toward Celsius, who then used his staff to strike it, batting it toward Ghaleon's direction, which he shattered with a lightning bolt, but couldn't see Stella coming up from behind the boulder and delivered a combination of punches and kicks ending with a knee strike to Ghaleon's throat, interrupting his ability to cast incantations. "This is the end!" Lemiria screamed, holding her two blades in her stance, charging Ghaleon. With a flick of his wrist, Leon aimed at Lemiria's swords, charging them with fire and earth. Meditating, Celsius emitted an ice breath while Stella cast a litany on Lemiria's swords. Finally, Rex shot a bolt of lightning at Lemiria's blades, and both were aglow with a silver energy as she merged them into one blade once again.

"Accept your punishment!" Upper cutting Ghaleon into the air with her hilt, Lemiria's hair flailed along with the force. Jumping up in front him, Lemiria held her blade over her head. "Finality Arts! Silver Moon Eclipse!" Time seemed to stop as the room became dimly lit, and a single beam of light illuminated Lemiria and Ghaleon as she proceeded to attack Ghaleon with a series of slashes, each causing more blood to splay across the walls than last. Finally, the sword no long was aglow in silver, but Ghaleon's wounds began to glow with energy as he more or less exploded, falling to the floor in a bloody mess as the lighting in the room once again turned to normal. Lemiria landed gracefully on her feet, as she stood above the dying Ghaleon.

"You... bitch...!" He gasped, spitting blood just from trying to speak.

"That's right." Lemiria solemnly stated, breathing heavily, attempting to catch her breath. "You can place your blame on me, and I'll take it. But that doesn't change the fact that I'm not responsible for your actions, or for you."

With a final sputter, Ghaleon stopped moving.

"All he wanted to do was fulfill the purpose he was created for." Lemiria put her fingers on Ghaleon's eyelids, and closed them. "It's sort of tragic, really... all of us just wanted to fulfill something a destiny, as well."

"That doesn't excuse actions, though." Leon walked up to Lemiria's side. "Even if it was to save Noel, I should have never betrayed all of your trust." He lowered his head. "This guy... because this guy was born, I was discarded. Trying to fill in the shoes of somebody else... trying to force somebody else to fill your shoes...!" Leon gritted his teeth.

Stella put her hand on Leon's shoulder, and shook her head. "It doesn't matter how you were born, it matters how you live your life and what you become. You told me that, once." Stella solemnly smiled. "You're right, that doesn't excuse actions. But none of us blame you for what you did. You did the right thing in the end, trying to save Noel."

Celsius shook his head. "I don't think any of us were necessarily forced." He shared his point of view. "In Stella's case, Nova adopted her, and she of her own volition wished to restore the Alkirk name to something even greater than seen in the previous several generations. In Rex's case, as he explained, his family has been obsessed with simply making money. Rex took it upon himself to actually work towards creating new inventions and products to help the quality of life all across Lunar."

"It may have been am unfortunate occurrence that Celsius became a test subject when he came to Lunar, but without that, he would have never become the Blue Dragon." Rex nodded. "For Leon, you've helped us out so many times during this journey. We all appreciate you. Your motives to help your brother were just, and you corrected yourself when you made a mistake. Nobody can fault you for being blackmailed by Powder and Amber."

"And in Lemiria's case..." Leon smiled at Lemiria, who finally turned to him. "When we saw images of the late Majesty Mia Ausa, I began to wonder. She would have never intentionally placed such burdens on you, her descendent. She instated several structural changes to the Ausa government over Vane for the benefit of her family, and it wasn't to protect her legacy."

"Then what was it supposed to do?" Lemiria asked, biting her lower lip.

"Her legacy wasn't to keep a high and mighty society to look down on the rest of the world." Celsius smiled, catching onto what Leon was saying. "It was to give a legacy of hope, to entrust that she didn't have to do everything herself. That she could trust and leave her descendants to watch her kingdom and her people." Celsius winked. "You've done just that. You didn't need magic in order to bring Vane back into the sky, into its former glory. You needed us, your friends, and your indomitable will."

"You brought Vane back because it was in danger, much like the rest of Lunar. We won, Lemiria, because you believed in the Four Dragons. You became something more than an Ausa." Stella nodded. "You became a Dragon Knight. That's pretty damn awesome, if I do say so myself."

Lemiria began blushing. "I didn't do it because of that... "

"We know you didn't do it for yourself." Rex scratched the bridge of his nose. "You're not selfish. You told Myriel to take the credit because you're bad at receiving compliments. If there's anything we learned during this trip, it's that you're pretty humble."

"Got me all figured out, haven't you?" Lemiria sighed, but smiled. It didn't feel too bad to have people who knew you so well.

"I'm going to set this fortress to self destruct by old-fashioned exploding." Leon said. "Its magitechnology won't ever be used again. Rex, come over here and help me."

* * *

"It's like a grand fireworks gala." Lemiria noticed, as the group watched the giant explosion of the Grandeury from the edge of the floating island of Vane. "The extra fire magic gives it a nice kick, Leon." She nudged him on the side, chuckling.

"What can I say? I'm a performer." Leon boasted, puffing out his chest. It certainly was a nice sight to behold.

"What do we do from here on out?" Stella inquired. "Rex is over there by the corner, hurling. Apparently he gets airsickness as well. He can't stay in the main Ramus building here in Vane anymore, obviously."

"He could always stay with you in Meribia, right?" Celsius suggested, popping up from behind. "That seems like a better choice, anyway."

"Where were you?" Stella was a bit surprised. Celsius insisted on leaving the Grandeury separately from the others for some reason. Nobody questioned him, but they certainly were curious. "Hey, that offer to have you come with me to Meribia is still good, you know." Stella patted Celsius' back. "Don't go running off, all right?"

"As for what to do... I don't know." Lemiria sighed. "They're probably going to try to give us a grand gala, but that's going to be a nightmare logistically because of the fact that Vane needs to be rebuilt. The buildings here for the past few hundred years weren't exactly ready for Vane to be jerked out of the ground, after all."

"Let's all take some time to think about it, all right?" Leon shrugged. "We had a long day. Let's at least take a moment to relax."

"Look!" Celsius pointed at the sky. Several scarlet shooting stars could be seen.

"Those must be the remnants of the Scarlet Star Army, retreating." Leon smiled.

"Thank goodness." Stella sighed.

* * *

Walking the familiar halls of the Magic Guild, Lemiria sighed. So much has changed... would she ever be able to settle in Vane, having explored most of the known world? She was already restless, just being here. In the short time that Myriel was acting guild master, everything seemed to run smoothly in Vane.

Without even realizing it, she found herself at the door of the Silver Spire. Looking around, Lemiria saw that nobody else was around. What happened last time...? Was it normal for those who were attempting to access the Silver Spire to end up in Althena's Shrine?' Where did Myriel go at that time? There were several questions. What was going on...? Lifting up her hand to the door, before touching it, she realized that once again it was trembling. She still wasn't convinced, was she?

Taking a deep breath, she promised herself that this was the final test. After this, there would be no looking back.

In a single swift motion, she grabbed the handle.

And she waited for a thirty second eternity.

* * *

"… Lemiria…" Lemiria's eyes watered at the sight of her mother saying her name. Sitting by her side, it seemed as if the antidote was working. Miralda's hand came up to touch Lemiria's cheek, brushing a few strands of hair out of her face. "Was it my imagination… or did you just save Vane, no, all of Lunar?"

"You always did have eyes in the back of your head, mother." Lemiria chuckled. "Apparently you also have that ability while unconscious." Lemiria shook her head, though. "I didn't do anything. I couldn't even save you, mother." Lemiria held her mother's hand to her face.

Miralda gave Lemiria a stern look. A bit surprised, as her mother had never taken a stern tone with her before, Lemiria didn't protest; she most likely deserved it tenfold. "Don't say such things, my daughter." Miralda admonished Lemiria. "You are you. What you've accomplished, you've done of your own means and strength… and your friends are your strength. Myriel and the others must have helped you."

Lemiria wasn't entirely certain how to respond to that.

"No single Ausa in history was great by themselves." Miralda continued. "They all had companions sticking by their side." She softened her expression and smiled. "Did you know that according to legend, the first Ausa was wed to the first Dragonmaster? Even back then, it was never a one-woman show, Lemiria. Somewhere along the way, this proof of friendship was washed out in the pages of history… but it always managed to come up again and again. Lemia Ausa couldn't win the Heresy War by herself. Mia Ausa couldn't defeat the Magic Emperor by herself. Lemina Ausa couldn't have won the War of Pentagulia without her friends' help. And…" Miralda's free hand patted Lemiria's hand. "I went on an adventure when I was your age, too. That experience was the most memorable time of my life, and is my most precious memory to this day."

"You did?" This was new information to Lemiria. Perhaps she was more like her mother than anybody had thought.

"That's when I met your father." Miralda turned to view the skylight in her room. The view from it had been revered by many generations of the Ausa line. She was in her sweet reverie, recalling her own adventure and her own world when she would travel out and about, and formed irreplaceable bonds with her own friends. And when she fell in love.

Perhaps Miralda wasn't able to accomplish what her daughter did, raising Vane to the sky. She didn't fight in any miraculous wars or fights determining the fate of Lunar. But what she was able to do was go on a journey of self-discovery and saw the world for herself rather than through a textbook. The Council may not have realized it, but Miralda was completely in control, and backed up her daughter's wishes to leave the city. Traditions meant nothing if you couldn't see why they were so important, and if they weren't important, they were fetters. The last thing Miralda wanted for her dear daughter was to be imprisoned in this city, a city desperately clinging to its last strings of dignity. The Council gave Miralda trouble also, when she went out to survey the world, and came back with money-grubbing bandit.

Remy Aerlan, the man who made a living being a con artist. When Miralda and her friends first set eyes on him, they knew he was trouble. Despite their best efforts to not get involved with him, Miralda and Remy always seemed to cross paths. When it came down to it, the one final obstacle between them and the key to the ruins of old Neo Vane in order to obtain a supposed ancient artifact was held by none other than Remy himself.

Before them was a game of chance, one which could have ruined Vane and all that it stood for. Yet Miralda accepted his challenge, a coin toss. The coin, unfortunately, fell to the edge of the cavern, and Remy went to see. Coming back, he gave Miralda the key to Neo Vane, and left. One of Miralda's companions told Miralda that the coin was facing tails, signifying Remy's victory. Miralda and the rest were confused.

It quickly became apparent what had transpired when they came back to Vane. There he was, sitting beside a casket. Remy's uncle, a previous candidate for Councilmember of Vane two generations prior, was forcibly retired due to issues with his health, which litanies could find no cure. With their funds eaten up, Remy took it upon himself to traverse the world of Lunar to take money from those who could not appreciate life, in order to give his uncle just one more day of life.

Remy passed Miralda by, whispering his favorite catchphrase. Meeting her changed him. Meeting him changed her. Her journey across Lunar hadn't changed the world, but it changed her own world view; how could she have been so blind as to the people in her very own city, their suffering, as the Council did nothing to help one of their own? There was much she didn't know. And it had to be this man to show her what had happened.

There was no way she could have apologized enough. She owed him everything. Even if she didn't ask for it, he was helping her every single step of the way through her journey, knowing who and what she was, never asking for anything in return. And it turned out that he was suffering the same illness as his uncle as well.

To Miralda, when somebody leaves this world, they should leave some sort of impact. Remy wasn't exactly a saint or a hero, but he was important to Miralda. More important than she could have ever come to realize if she hadn't met him. But he resisted, saying that she didn't owe him anything. That's when she repeated back to him his favorite phrase.

Lemiria followed her mother's gaze to the sky light. "You've always told me nothing but wonderful stories of how he was." It was quite possible that he perfect image of her father ruined all other men for her. Not that Lemiria would ever actually admit to entertaining the thought. "You and several other people have taught me that companions are the best things I could have ever hoped for." Lemiria wiped a tear from her eye, but she continued welling up. "Friends become your strength… and I'm certain that Vane is powered by the bonds that tie people together. Our ancestors have shown that again and again, haven't they?"

Miralda smiled. "This is why I never considered you a burden." Her voice got stronger. "I knew that you would be worth more than any other person who could possibly bear your burden. Somebody who relies solely on magic, or prestige, or entitlement… you are none of those. You carved out your own path. And you did it without ending up alone."

"You never gave up on me." Lemiria nodded. "There's no way I could ever repay you."

"It's not about debts." Miralda responded, twisting Lemiria's deep brunette locks in her finger. A phrase uttered by Remy so often during their encounters, and their journey together. It was never about debts. It was about one thing. "It's about love."

* * *

Walking down the halls of the Magic Guild, Leon felt far more comfortable than the previous countless times. For one, he didn't have to act proud, with hauteur. He could be himself. Certainly it was painful in the sense that Noel was no longer there, walking by his side, both of them cracking jokes about the other professors and students, thinking they had all of the time in the world.

These halls… walking alone was painful.

Stopping in his tracks, Leon leaned against the wall as a tear fell and splashed onto his shoe. Gritting his teeth, he ran that moment when Noel died over and over and over again in his head, through his mind, wondering if there was anything at that he could have done. Noel came with Lemiria and the others because Leon just had to go and face Powder by himself. Why did he think they wouldn't follow him? Gritting his teeth, he entered the room he shared with Noel, and sat at their shared desk.

There was a note in Noel's handwriting.

Reading the note, Leon was speechless. No snide remarks or comments came to mind, and there was no way he could be sarcastic. This was a genuine message to him, from Noel.

_Elder Brother –_

_I wish with my entire being that there would never come a time when it is necessary for you to read this letter, but I've always been a tad over-prepared, haven't I? I wish I could put into words what meaning you've gave to my life, a life I never asked for. A life forced upon me, simply to be discarded. You never discarded me. Perhaps you smothered me a bit, but I would never be able to blame you for that, Leon. It was proof that I mattered to you._

_I just hope you can realize that the feeling was reciprocated._

_It feels a bit odd that when I stop to think about it, we never did sit down and have a real conversation. However, I do feel that we shared a deep bond, where I would entrust the future to you. For not only me, but all of the other countless replicas of Ghaleon which have been made, who died at the whims of a murderer. I was lucky enough to find meaning in life. And if you're reading this, I've found meaning in death, regretting nothing, being able to repay even just a small fraction of what I owe you._

_Words cannot convey how I feel right now. But I can tell you that I'm happy._

_Noel_

"You're not the only one who can't find the words to convey how you feel." Leon clenched his fist, unable to halt the tears from flowing.

* * *

"Are you sure this is all right with you two?" Celsius bowed respectfully before Nall and Ruby. In a cart were several small children. "When I saw them in the Grandeury, I…" he bit his lower lip. After defeating the Scarlet Star Army legion in the bottom floor of the Grandeury, he took it upon himself to at least get the artificial dragons they saw out to safety by the escape pods, before finding the elevator to pick up Stella, Rex, and Leon. The escape pod landed somewhere on the shores near Vane, which he tended to after he got everybody out of the Grandeury. He couldn't leave them to be sucked dry by the Grandeury. Several of them had already died from the initial blast which wiped out the majority of the Scarlet Star Army, but there were a handful which survived. They wouldn't have if Lemiria and the others hadn't stopped Ghaleon.

"You did the right thing, Celsius." Nall simply nodded. "What Powder did was unforgivable. These children may not be real dragons, but they have a right to live. Nobody should be born just for the sole purpose of dying. I may have forgotten that over the past several hundred years, but perhaps that's part of becoming old." He tried to chuckle.

"They're adorable." Ruby chimed in. "I'll do my best to raise them with all the care in the world! Maybe even more!"

"Thank you." Celsius once again bowed.

"It must have been difficult." Nall noticed Celsius replaying the scene in his mind over and over again. "There are always going to be 'what-if' scenarios running through your mind. Ruby and I have had our share of those."

"It's part of being able to not make the same errors in the future." Ruby explained. 'If anything, you're a bit ahead of us in that department." She giggled. "You're already a fine adult, Celsius. I look forward to being able to be a fellow dragon by your side in any future conflicts."

"You're going to jinx it." Celsius sighed.

"Sure, we don't know how long you'll live, but more than likely you'll be all right." Nall grinned. Truth be told, Celsius wasn't sure if he wanted to live much longer than Lemiria and the others. Of course, he then realized that Nall and Ruby also had to live ages beyond their own comrades as well. "Being a dragon is a bit of a burden, but there are nice sides to it as well."

"If you say so." Celsius meekly responded to his elder. "I think I'm going to travel around for a bit. I'm certain we'll most likely continue to cross paths, you two."

"I'll get mad at you if we don't!" Ruby puffed out her cheeks.

"She really will." Nall shrugged.

Celsius chuckled. "Thanks again for taking care of the kids. Maybe after I'm tired of seeing the world, I'll join you."

* * *

"Wow, this really works!" Rex beamed, finally getting over his nausea.

"I figure if I'm good at healing litanies, studying up on pressure points couldn't hurt." Stella smiled, showing Rex the manner in which to avoid airsickness by applying pressure on his wrist. "I'm glad you're feeling better. I know getting sick isn't fun."

Ready to try it on his own, Rex held his wrist. "In any case, I can't stay up here. I guess I'm moving to Meribia after all."

"You don't sound too enthused." Stella commented, patting him on the back. "Do you want to stay up here that much?"

"Not really." Rex sighed. "Ever since we got to go out and see the world, coming back felt a bit… empty. I don't think I could ever settle down here again as I am now."

"That's most likely because you have a dream you want to fulfill now." Stella said. "After seeing Lemiria fulfill her dream, life doesn't seem quite the same, does it? I mean, you're the only one out of all of us to not under some life-changing dramatic catharsis, right? But you've been a great help to us nonetheless. We probably would have done more harm than good if you weren't there to let us know why magitechnology is such a dangerous game."

"I guess so." Rex puffed out his cheeks. "It just felt a bit too pathetic to say any of that out loud, myself."

Both of them laughed.

"In any case, why not come with me to the gate? I have a feeling we're going to be able to witness something rather special, soon." Stella winked. "Be sure to bring along your bag."

Rex tilted his head is a bit of confusion, but he knew better than to question Stella.

* * *

"Lemiria…" Myriel and Lemiria were a bit surprised to run into each other in the main hallway of the Magic Guild. Lemiria turned a little bit away; she had no idea what to say. She had originally intended to leave Vane without speaking with Myriel. She thought it to be best for everyone involved. "I'm glad you made it back." Myriel seemed unfazed, approaching Lemiria and holding Lemiria's hands in her own.

"Yeah… I'm back." Lemiria finally made eye contact with Myriel. _She's as guileless as ever._ She couldn't help but smile at her best friend's kindness. "I'm not staying for long, though. I was sort of hoping to skedaddle out of here before you found out that I had returned. You're a better leader of Vane than I would ever be."

Myriel shook her head. "Please, refrain from saying such things!" Myriel's usual smiling expression was replaced with one of frustration. "None of this would have meant anything if you hadn't gone out and did what you have done."

"Likewise, nothing I've done would have meant anything meaningful if you weren't here to hold down the fort." Lemiria responded.

The two stood in silence, as Myriel let go of Lemiria's hand.

"How are you able to open the door to the Silver Spire?" Lemiria found herself asking. It was the one question she wanted to avoid with every fiber of her being, but it was out now. Lemiria looked intently at Myriel, who also displayed an expression of shock and uncertainty. "I couldn't open the door to the Silver Spire itself." Lemiria gritted her teeth. "Yet I was able to make Vane rise up from its earthbound prison. I have no doubt that I'm an Ausa, but now it comes to you. Who are you, Myriel?"

"I am Myriel Deis Telka." Myriel simply bowed, as if introducing herself for the very first time. "Your best friend. That's all that I know, and all that matters to me."

Lemiria wanted to yell at Myriel, demanding to know the truth. If anyone knew the truth, she did. But Lemiria refrained. "So you're not secretly the real Lemiria Ausa, or my twin sister, or some sort of product of magic that somehow took the Ausa aura away from me? Not that you'd do any of that of your own volition…" Lemiria sighed, frustrated.

"All I know is that it's a miracle." Myriel nodded. "I had no family, and the Deis family name was given to me without parents. Glenn Tesla was kind enough to take me under his wing, and I was fortunate enough to forge a bond with you that is stronger than any other relationship that I have ever had."

"I guess I'll put up with that answer for now." Lemiria pretended to grumble, crossing her arms and turning to the side.

Myriel gave Lemiria a hug. "I'll continue watching over Vane, until the day you return to me and take your rightful position."

"We'll both be old and gray when that finally happens, Myriel."

Both of them laughed once again, their embrace refusing to end. Neither of them wished to say goodbye.

* * *

Standing at the transfer gate, Lemiria had a bag and little else. The sky was blood red from not only the explosion of the Grandeury earlier, but because the sun was about to set.

"Where are you going?" Turning around, Lemiria saw her four friends behind her.

"I'm leaving Vane in the hands of Myriel." She simply stated. But there was no regret in her voice; her face shone with confidence. "If this journey taught me anything, it's that I like freedom. I've seen most of the world, yes, but not nearly all of it. "

"That works for me." Rex seemed a bit under the weather, but that was obviously due to the airsickness. "I can't stay here, so I'm coming along."

"What he means to say..." Stella smiled, "Is that he hasn't nearly seen enough of the world, either After all, how else is he supposed to become inspired for his inventions?"

"I already said that I have no interest in becoming the Premier of the Guild, so I'm out of here." Leon crossed his arms. "Besides, I don't know if my body's stable. I may as well go out and enjoy myself if my life's going to be short. A morbid thought, but I'm not going to regret my life like our last enemy did."

"You know that my place belongs besides you, ever since you saved me from those scientists." Celsius chuckled. "I'm not going anywhere without you."

"That leaves you not giving me a reason." Lemiria looked at Stella.

"Easy. Because I want to." Stella shrugged. "It's not my fault I happen to be more honest than these guys here."

Everybody laughed.

"Well, then, how about a new adventure?" Lemiria suggested.

Leon grinned. "Do you even have to ask?"

* * *

**Author's Note:** Thank you for reading this to the very end! As a fan of Lunar, I hope I presented a story which honors the Lunar tradition and can be enjoyed. I do realize there are a couple of details which could lead to a follow-up story but as it is right now, Lemiria's story is over. In any case, I do hope you were able to enjoy this story, and once again, thank you for reading.


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